German authorities have reversed a travel ban imposed on Bob Vylan frontman Pascal Robinson-Foster, who was denied entry to Germany, detained at Berlin airport and deported to the UK on 15 June.
German federal police justified the deportation by citing a performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2025 where Bob Vylan led a chant of "death, death to the IDF". Then-BBC director general Tim Davie later admitted the corporation had aired an "antisemitic broadcast" in relation to the band's set, which was also condemned by numerous politicians, including then-prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Robinson-Foster told The Intercept that he travelled to Germany in June in a private capacity to visit friends and music collaborators ahead of the release of the band's new album.
A police file on Robinson-Foster obtained by The Intercept alleges that he disseminated antisemitic narratives and Hamas propaganda that could "radicalise certain segments of the [German] population" and posed a threat to Germany's public security and public order. Robinson-Foster told The Intercept the incident "opened a Pandora's box" and said both he and his bandmate have been stopped for questioning at European borders since the deportation.
Robinson-Foster told The Intercept: "It is frankly absurd to claim that I am a threat to Germany's national security. It is equally absurd to claim that we are spreading propaganda on behalf of a banned organisation."
Alexander Gorski, the German lawyer representing Robinson-Foster, said: "There is a constitutional right to know the file on which such a decision is based." Before the band was able to challenge the deportation legally, police decided to remove the travel ban due to no legal basis for denial of entry, and the band can now freely travel to the country.
In a statement on Instagram, the band said the move was "once again another attempt to silence and intimidate those that oppose the ongoing genocide in Palestine", adding that the case highlights the importance of challenging intimidation tactics.
British police previously closed an investigation into Bob Vylan's Glastonbury performance, concluding there was "insufficient evidence to support a realistic prospect of conviction". The band has faced visa issues in multiple countries following the Glastonbury performance. Robinson-Foster and his bandmate Wade Laurence George had their US visas revoked following the 2025 festival appearance.
The German Federal Police declined to answer detailed questions about the now-revoked entry ban, citing public security interests and data protection, with spokesperson Nikolai Jaletzke telling The Intercept the agency does not comment on individual cases, internal threat assessments, or inter-agency coordination.
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