London’s O2 Arena has apologised after refusing entry to a man wearing a ‘Free Gaza’ shirt.
Last Saturday (August 10) a couple trying to attend a Peter Kay live show at the venue were refused access by security, who deemed his t-shirt against policy.
The man was asked to buy another t-shirt to change into, and his request to turn the t-shirt inside out was refused, with security saying it must stay with them and not enter the venue.
Another member of security told the couple that the O2 is a “non-political venue” and that it takes a “neutral” stance on such slogans.
AEG Europe, the company which owns the O2 Arena, later told Middle East Monitor that the couple had been refused due to the venue’s ‘prohibited items’ policy, which bans “items that ‘in our reasonable opinion, may cause danger or disruption to any event or to other visitors.’”
A video of the incident has since circulated online, leading to calls to boycott the venue.
Now, the O2 has issued a statement saying they “sincerely apologise for any offence and upset this incident may have caused.”
He was denied entry to the O2 for wearing a t-shirt that said "Free Gaza." pic.twitter.com/ZYUInPamD7
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) August 16, 2024
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“On any given night we host up to 20,000 people and we try to make the best decisions we can, with the information we have available, in a timely fashion,” the statement read. “We don’t get every decision right, all of the time, and on this occasion we made a judgement call and got it wrong. For that, we apologise.”
They went on to say: “Safety and security are our paramount priority at all times, and we do everything we can to provide a safe and respectful environment for all our guests. It is for this reason our ‘prohibited items’ policy exists, stipulated in our terms and conditions for all events.
The statement says that the venue’s policy is to prohibit items that may cause danger or disruption to any event or other visitors, but they acknowledge that this was not the case in this occasion. “Entry should have been granted,” they say.
“For clarity, there is no venue policy which prohibits clothing displaying any specific messages, unless we reasonably believe there to be a risk of disruption or that it is unlawful,” they continue.
They conclude by saying they will review their policies and procedures going forward “to prevent this happening again”.
In June, record labels, promoters and more called for a cultural boycott of Israel through the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
The campaign has called for the boycott amidst the ongoing developments in the Israel-Palestine conflict, which recently saw Israel carry out an airstrike operation in Rafah. The airstrike was estimated to have killed at least 37 people between May 27-28, according to The Associated Press.
They also reported the attack caused several tents to catch fire, killing more residents in Rafah, which is home to thousands of displaced Palestinians from all over the Gaza Strip.
Music organisations, labels and promoters such as Dark Entries, Techno Queers, Dweller, Noise Not Music, Night Slugs, 8-ball community, Gold Bolus Recordings, NYC Noise, FIST and many more have committed themselves to the boycott.
PACBI is an offshoot of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS), which was behind the huge wave of drop-outs from The Great Escape and Latitude Festival this year. PACBI was established in 2004 to specifically oversee cultural, artistic and academic boycotts in the movement.