Record labels, promoters and more come together to call for cultural boycott of Israel

Clairo, Blood Orange, King Krule and more have been announced as performers for Mustafa‘s London Edition of his Artists For Aid Benefit gig.The concert will focus on benefitting humanitarian efforts in both Palestine and Sudan. Other acts set to perform include Bint Mbareh, Daniel Caesar, Earl Sweatshirt, Nicolás Jaar, Ramy Youssef, and Yasiin Bey.The Artists for Aid show will take place at the Troxy in London on Thursday July 4. The gig is in partnership with War Child UK and follows the first edition that took place in New Jersey at the beginning of this year.

Billy Bragg has spoken to NME about what to expect from the activism, political discussion and live music from the Left Field at Glastonbury 2024 – hoping to “put forward a vision of a better world” ahead of the General Election.The Left Field area is organised and co-founded by the punk-folk icon Bragg and Juliet Wills, and was first designed in the year 2000 to promote left-wing politics and political action; a place for Glasto-goers to “recharge your activism”.This year’s line-up will see performances from the likes of English Teacher, Bob Vylan, Sprints, Billy Nomates, Trampolene, Lottery Winners and Pillow Queens, as well as talks and debates around subjects including trans liberation, the Israel and Palestine conflict, the post office scandal, immigration and the housing crisis.A post shared by Glastonbury Left Field (@glastoleftfield)“There’s a general election coming [on July 4], and that’s why we’re looking at these issues,” Bragg told NME. “Housing, immigration, accountability – we’re looking at trans rights as well.

EXCLUSIVE: Iraqi-American actor Alexander Uloom has been cast in an undisclosed but key role in Prime Video’s biblical drama House Of David, which is shooting on location in Greece.

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli romcom drama series The Baker and the Beauty is being remade for France’s TF1, with French singer-songwriter Amir Haddad playing the lead in his debut TV role.

shows.“We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen. He solved the Middle East!” Seinfeld joked.Jerry Seinfeld demolishes anti-Jewish heckler.

LOS ANGELES — Some of Hollywood’s brightest stars headlined a fundraiser for President Joe Biden that took in a record $30 million-plus for a Democratic candidate, according to his campaign, in hopes of energizing would-be supporters for a White House contest they said may rank among the most consequential in U.S. history.George Clooney, Julia Roberts and Barbra Streisand were among those who took the stage at the 7,100-seat Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

Gordon Cox Theater Editor Live theater always reflects the moment in which it’s presented, but this season, Broadway charged head-on into the politics of today with unusual force: A play that directly addressed antisemitism, Israel and Gaza opened barely two months after the events of Oct. 7; climate protestors interrupted a 140-year-old drama about the threat of environmental calamity, and an onstage chronicle of Vladimir Putin’s rise to power opened even as the Russian invasion of Ukraine rolled into its third year.

Enter Shikari have spoken out after Barclays Bank withdrew from sponsoring Download, Latitude and Isle Of Wight festivals following an artist boycott.A number of bands had dropped out of the Donington Park festival in protest at their commercial partnership with Barclays, including Pest Control, Scowl, Speed and Zulu.Pest Control wrote that they “would not take part in an event whose sponsor profits from facilitating a genocide”, while Scowl added they were boycotting due to “Barclays Bank sponsorship of the event and Barclays’ connection to Israel and the genocide Israel is committing in Palestine.”And now, it appears that Barclays have withdrawn their sponsorship of Download, Latitude and Isle of Wight Festivals, with the bank no longer being listed on their official websites.In a response shared with NME, Latitude confirmed the news, saying: “Following discussion with artists, we have agreed with Barclays that they will step back from sponsorship of Latitude Festival.”NME have also contacted Download Festival for comment.Enter Shikari, who are set to play the main stage at Download this weekend, have responded to the news with a lengthy social media post, which read: “There has been mounting pressure for bands to drop out of Download festival due to the involvement of Barclays Bank.”A post shared by enter: shikari (@entershikari)“We have been in talks with Download themselves, expressing our serious objection at Barclays involvement. We have considered all options, and along with other artists have been working tirelessly on this.”“We don’t believe in rushed reactions and always want the best outcome for all involved.

Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 had its first full day of play at the international box office on Wednesday with No. 1 starts in each of its eight material markets, including strong debuts in majors Korea and Germany as well as the Philippines. The total through day one overseas is $4.9M. Majors joining through Friday include Australia, Mexico and the UK.

Lankum have said they have signed a letter asking Latitude to drop Barclays as a sponsor amid the current boycott of the bank over its ties to companies who are supplying weapons and military technology to Israel.Numerous acts have already pulled out of the Henham Park festival over its sponsorship by Barclays, including CMAT, Pillow Queens, Mui Zyu and Georgia Ruth. Comedians Joanne McNally and Alexandra Haddow have also dropped out.Now, Lankum have lent their voices to the conversation by revealing that they have signed a letter to Latitude over the issue, suggesting that the festival itself will be subject to acts taking a collective stand.“In relation to the Barclays sponsorship of Latitude Festival, we have signed a letter asking the festival to drop the bank due to their links with weapons firms involved in the genocide in Palestine,” they wrote in a statement.“We have also been working behind the scenes with a number of the acts scheduled to play at the festival as we firmly believe that collective action is the most effective action.“Hopefully we will have more news on this soon.”“Love and solidarity, Cormac, Daragh, Ian and Radie.”In relation to the Barclays sponsorship of Latitude Festival, we have signed a letter asking the festival to drop the bank due to their links with weapons firms involved in the genocide in Palestine.We have also been working behind the scenes with a number of the acts… pic.twitter.com/DIGdmhDxIp— LANKUM (@LankumDublin) June 12, 2024The announcement of artists pulling out of Latitude comes shortly after the major boycott of The Great Escape in Brighton last month, also due to its ties with Barclays.

Selome Hailu After a fourth-month, worldwide search, the Amazon Prime Video drama “House of David” has found its cast of biblical figures. Michael Iskander will lead the series as David. The Egyptian American actor is best known for originating the role of Aaron in “Kimberly Akimbo,” which in 2023 won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

System Of A Down‘s Serj Tankian has weighed in on the current situation in Palestine and the movement to boycott companies with ties to Israel.Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 in response to its occupation of Palestinian territories, killing 1,189 people. Israel’s ongoing operations in the interim have killed 37,702 Palestinians [via Al Jazeera].Recently, record labels, promoters and more have called for a cultural boycott of Israel through the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), an offshoot of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) which was behind the huge wave of drop-outs from The Great Escape, Latitude Festival and Download Festival this year.In an interview with NME about his new autobiography Down With The System, Tankian has given his take on current world events and the ongoing boycotts.

Download 2024 yesterday (June 10) over its partnership with Barclays Bank – which has ties to Israel – have announced a show together in Birmingham to raise money for Palestine.Pest Control were the first band to pull out of the Donington Park festival, saying that they would not “take part in an event whose sponsor profits from facilitating a genocide.” Later on, Scowl, Speed and Zulu all followed suit, with Scowl revealing that Pest Control had alerted them to the issue.This Friday! A benefit for Palestine

Latitude 2024 due to the festival’s sponsorship with Barclays and its ties to Israel.They are the two leading names when it comes to the comedians who are boycotting this year’s edition of the event, and follow numerous musical acts who are refusing to perform while it is still sponsored by the bank.Joanne McNally announced her withdrawal from the festival last week, when she shared an update online. She was set to close the comedy tent at Latitude 2024, which will be held at Henham Park in Suffolk between July 25 and 28.“I’m getting messages today about me performing at Latitude when it’s being sponsored by Barclays,” she began on Instagram (via Goss.ie).

Kneecap have discussed their reasons for not participating in the boycott of The Great Escape last month.Over 100 artists pulled out of the Brighton festival over its sponsorship by Barclays, which has been accused of financial ties to companies arming Israel. However, the bank claims it is “trading in shares of listed companies in response to client instruction or demand”.The Irish rap trio’s decision was caused some controversy online given that they have always taken a stand against what they call Israel’s “occupation and genocide” of Gaza.They helped to raise nearly £100,000 for a volunteer gym in the Aida Refugee Camp in Palestine and spoken publicly about it via social media and a message shared after a high-profile appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. They have also made headlines for ignoring Irish public broadcaster RTÉ’s requests to not wear pro-Palestine badges.Kneecap did participate in the boycott of SXSW (after the UK government withdrew arts funding to get them to get there; resulting in a legal battle) after discovering the US military was supporting the festival.

It’s a big weekend for critically acclaimed indies in limited release as well as a handful of moderate openings, including Richard Gere’s latest film Longing. The provenance of that is unusual as the film from Lionsgate/Grindstone is a Canada-set remake of a 2017 Israeli drama. The original was quite well received, but the film opening this weekend has been thoroughly skewered by critics.

Cornerstone has closed worldwide distribution deals for Andrea Arnold’s latest feature film Bird, which debuted at last month’s Cannes Film Festival. 

NME’s latest stars of The Cover, Kneecap, have shared a playlist exclusively to accompany the story’s launch – check it out below.The Irish rap trio are on this week’s (June 3) edition of The Cover, a renewal of NME’s commitment to supporting emerging talent across the globe on a weekly basis. Every week, a rising artist will feature on The Cover – you can read the profile of Kneecap here, written by Andrew Trendell and featuring photography by Joseph Bishop.Accompanying the story is an exclusive playlist Kneecap have compiled, ‘Songs To Shoplift To’, featuring Bicep, Overmono, Bonobo, Tiësto and more.

Radiohead‘s Jonny Greenwood has played a gig in Tel Aviv, the capital of Israel, a day after he reportedly participated in protests calling for hostages held in Gaza to be released and new elections to be held.According to The Jerusalem Post, Greenwood performed alongside Israeli musician Dudu Tassa in Barby on May 26. They played material from their collaborative album of Arabic love songs, ‘Jarak Qaribak’, which was released last year.There were repeated calls for peace throughout the gig with Tassa reportedly saying: “There are musicians here, not politicians.

CMAT has announced that she has pulled out of Latitude 2024 over the festival’s sponsorship with Barclays and its ties to Israel.The Irish singer-songwriter took to her official Instagram account to share a statement explaining why she had decided to not perform at the Suffolk Music Festival. She used a photo of her attending the festival back in 2021 as the background photo of her post.She began her statement by pointing out how Barclays is the festival’s main sponsor, and discussing its connections to ongoing war in Gaza.“You may or may not be aware, but Latitude’s main sponsor is Barclays bank, who have been revealed to I have increased their financing of various companies who are supplying weapons and military technology to Israel.