English pop singer Dua Lipa on Tuesday denied firing her Jewish agent for signing a letter calling to remove the anti-Israel Northern Irish rap group Kneecap from the Glastonbury music festival.
The development comes amid a boycott of Israeli film institutions supported by more than 4,000 American actors and directors due to the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, and as some artists are seeking to block streaming services from letting their songs play in Israel.
The Daily Mail reported this week that Lipa had parted ways with her European agent, David Levy, for signing a leaked letter to Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily, urging them to drop the rap group from this year’s festival over their anti-Israel views.
“Dua made sure through her people that David Levy wasn’t working on her music anymore. She is very openly pro-Palestine, and that doesn’t align with David,” a source told the Daily Mail. “She views him as being a supporter of Israel’s war in Gaza, and the terrible treatment of the Palestinians, and that was made very clear through the letter that he signed and sent to Michael Eavis.”
The 30-year-old Grammy Award-winning performer will continue to be represented by her current talent agency, William Morris Endeavor, but with a different agent there, according to the newspaper.
Lipa called the media report “completely false,” even as she distanced herself from Levy.
“I do not condone the actions of David Levy or other music executives toward an artist speaking their truth,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories. “I also cannot ignore how this has been handled in the press. Not only was the story completely false, but the language used by the Daily Mail has been deliberately inflammatory, crafted purely for clickbait, clearly designed to fuel online division.”
The pop star continued, “It is always Free Palestine, but exploiting a global tragedy in order to sell newspapers is something I find deeply troubling.”
A separate statement by William Morris Endeavor said that Levy had not been involved in managing the artist’s day-to-day activity since 2019.
Kneecap, which displayed a Hezbollah flag at one of its shows, canceled its upcoming U.S. tour amid an ongoing court case over a terrorism-related charge against one of its members.
