‘I will not allow my music to get into bed with violence’ – CMAT pulls out of UK festival in solidarity with Palestinian people

Irish band Pillow Queens have also withdrawn from the festival, whose headline acts include Duran Duran, Kasabian and Keane.

Say Something singer CMAT said she was “devastated” to announce that she will no longer play the main stage of the festival in Suffolk as it has not found an alternative sponsor to Barclays Bank.

In a statement shared to Instagram, CMAT said the bank has “increased their financing of various companies who are supplying weapons and military technology to Israel” and she could no longer play the festival as a result.

“I made Latitude aware of what my decision would be weeks ago, but was hoping that with the press surrounding the brave artists who pulled out of The Great Escape festival, that Latitude would divest from Barclays or find another sponsor,” she said in a statement shared to Instagram.

“This has not happened and it has been made clear to me that it will not happen. As such, I am now officially pulling out. I will not allow my precious work, my music, which I love so much, to get into bed with violence.”

More than 200 artists previously signed an open statement calling on Brighton festival The Great Escape to drop the bank as a partner.

The Meath-born singer said she was “utterly devastated” to make the announcement after the festival gave her one of her first large festival performances in 2021 and had been looking forward to the “full circle moment” on the main stage this summer.

“I really hope to play this festival again in the future under different circumstances, and under a different sponsor.”

She apologised to fans and said she hopes to make it up to them, adding that she hopes they understand her choice.

“I toyed with the idea of playing and donating our fee, but it honestly just isn’t what the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement is asking me to do, and I could never claim to know more than them.”

She said the move is among the actions she is taking against the ongoing war on Palestine, adding: “I hope that as many of you reading this as possible will choose to show solidarity with the Palestinian people in whatever way you can. Boycott Barclays. Free Palestine.”

She shared the statement with the emojis of the Palestinian flag, a heart and the Irish flag.