The BBC is under pressure to 'review one of its biggest stars' after British Airways pulled its support for Louis Theroux's podcast over platforming Bob Vylan's lead singer - who told the broadcaster he was 'not regretful' over his 'death to the IDF' chant at Glastonbury.

Pascal Robinson-Foster told Theroux he stood by the 'Jew-hating' comments he made at the music festival in June and said that given the chance he would 'do it again tomorrow' during the interview, which first aired on Tuesday.

The punk duo were condemned by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer for urging 'death' to Israeli troops during the gig in what he called 'appalling hate speech'.

There was a nationwide backlash to the set, which saw Robinson-Foster lead the crowd in a chant of 'death, death to the IDF,' as well as 'from the river to the sea', and used the term 'f****** Zionists'.

Now the UK's flag carrier has announced it would be pausing on its sponsorship of the podcast, citing 'clear breaches' of its agreement, as a host of voices urged the BBC to 'tear up' its contract with Theroux.

BA told Jewish News in a statement: 'Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed. 

'We're grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy in relation to politically sensitive or controversial subject matters. 

'We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don't occur and we're investigating how this happened.' 

Danny Cohen, former head of BBC Television, said the broadcaster now needed to questions its ties with Theroux after he made comments that could be deemed 'deeply antisemitic'.

In one part of the podcast, Robinson-Foster said: 'Ultimately the fight is against white supremacy, right? Like that is what the fight is against, and I think white supremacy is displayed so vividly in Zionism'.

Theroux agreed with an 'mmhm', adding: I think I'd add to that, there's an even more macro lens which you can put on it, which is that Jewish identity in the Jewish community, as expressed in Israel, has become almost like an acceptable quote, unquote way of understanding ethno nationalism. 

'And so it's like they're prototyping an aggressive, militarised form of ethno nationalism, which is then rolled out, whether it's by people like Viktor Orban in Hungary or Trump in the US, it's become sort of this certain sense of post Holocaust Jewish exceptionalism or Zionist exceptionalism, has become a role model on the national stage for what these white identitarians would like to do in their own countries. Does that make sense?'

Cohen, 51, who is now the President of Access Entertainment, told Daily Mail: 'This is an understandable decision by British Airways.

'Theroux gave his huge platform to a singer associated with antisemitic hate. 

'But it is worse than that. Theroux personally made a statement on his podcast which will be widely interpreted as deeply antisemitic. 

'The question now is whether the BBC will also take action.'

Earlier this week Cohen said: 'Louis Theroux has chosen to interview a man who made rabidly antisemitic comments on a stage at Glastonbury which was rightly disavowed by the BBC itself as a serious incident of racism.' 

'At one time a penetrating interviewer, Theroux offers only softball questions and even appears to agree with offensive arguments such as claiming that the outrage over the 'death to the IDF' chants was 'deliberately weaponised as a distraction tactic'.'

'Revealingly, Theroux chooses not to ask Vylan about his statement on stage about working for 'f***ing Zionists', in other words Jews.

'Presumably Theroux avoids this because this overt racism would not fit with his sympathetic approach to Vylan's poisonous views.

'[He was] a man who once did a great job of interviewing people with extremist and offensive views.

'In giving such a soft platform to a man now known for his Jew-hating stage rants Theroux has lost the plot in a very dangerous way.'

Also reacting to BA pulling its sponsorship, shadow culture minister Louie French said: 'It is little surprise that British Airways, a much respected brand, has distanced itself from this podcast. 

'There should be no place in public life for antisemitism and this ongoing attempt to divide British people.

'I urge the BBC to closely review the conduct of one of its biggest stars.'

Independent peer Lord Austin said: 'British Airways has made absolutely the right decision to drop its sponsorship of Louis Theroux's podcast after he platformed this hateful singer. 

'It was a very soft interview in which Theroux failed to properly challenge Bobby Vylan's hateful rhetoric. In fact he appeared to largely agree with him. 

'Theroux himself chipped in with his own misguided views that Israel is an 'ethno nationalist' country, acting as a 'role model' for white supremacists around the world. 

'This is a shocking statement that seriously calls into question his impartiality as a BBC journalist who has produced a number of controversial documentaries about Israel. The BBC should now follow BA's lead and drop Louis Theroux.'

Advocacy group Stop the Hate said: 'Louis Theroux's despicable antisemtic remarks about Israel being a 'role model' for white supremacists has left BA with no choice but to drop its sponsorship of his podcast. 

'We are glad the airline has done the right thing and other commercial partners should follow suit. Theroux's contract at the BBC should also be torn up. There can be no platforms for racism.'

Leo Pearlman, CEO of Fulwell Entertainment, previously told the Daily Mail: 'When you give a microphone to someone who proudly repeats a genocidal chant that played a part in inspiring attacks on Jews across Britain, you're not probing hate, you're amplifying it.

'And don't be fooled, this isn't journalism exploring the edges of free speech, without meaningful challenge it's complicity dressed up as curiosity.'

'A chant that antisemitic mobs have parroted across the world shouldn't be given another stage, let alone sympathetic airtime. 

'We've seen faeces smeared on synagogue doors, Jews mowed down and stabbed to death on our streets, and mobs chanting the same words that rang out from the Glastonbury stage.

'For Pascal to claim he bears no responsibility is moral cowardice, for Theroux to nod along is moral failure. 

'This is what happens when antisemitism becomes fashionable again, when the media treat incitement as an interesting opinion rather than a hate crime.

'Even when it goosesteps, Jew hate doesn't always wear a swastika, sometimes it wears a mic and a smirk, and gets invited onto a podcast. 

'The fact that Pascal can celebrate the harm he caused and be rewarded with more exposure says everything about how far the goalposts have shifted for Jews in this country.

'There is nothing progressive about demanding freedom for Palestinians while defending the right to call for the murder of Jews.'

The BBC admitted to breaking editorial guidelines when Bob Vylan's 'deeply-offensive' Glastonbury chant was broadcast live to millions.

But in the Louis Theroux interview, Robinson-Foster claimed he was praised by members of the Corporation when he came off stage following his set in June.

He said BBC staff on the ground at the event told him that they 'loved' his set, and called it 'fantastic'.

In his first major interview since the festival, Vylan said BBC staff acted like it was 'normal' when they finished performing and went so far as to heap praise on the band.

'It wasn't like we came off stage, and everybody was like [he gasps]. It's just normal,' he told the Louis Theroux podcast.

'We come off stage. It's normal. Nobody thought anything. Nobody. Even staff at the BBC were like 'That was fantastic! We loved that!'.'

Vylan, who had his US visa revoked and gigs cancelled in the wake of the scandal, said that, even hours after the performance, he was still being praised by BBC staff.

'This was a couple hours later because it took us a little while to get back,' he said.

'Nobody at the BBC at that time was there like, 'oh my gosh'. You know? But it was very normal. And then we got back and then, yeah, like I said, we went and got ice cream.'

The Corporation partially upheld complaints and admitted breaking editorial guidelines in relation to harm and offence.

BBC Chairman Samir Shah said that the decision not to pull the live feed of the performance was 'unquestionably an error of judgement'.

In a letter to the select committee, Davie admitted there were 550 BBC staff on the ground at the festival and some were authorised to kill the live feed.

Despite the ensuing furore, Vylan has now said he would lead the same chant again and has no regrets over the decision.

'Yes, I would do it again. I'm not regretful of it,' he said.

'I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays. I'm not regretful of it at all, like the subsequent backlash that I've faced.'

Following a request for comment, the BBC referred the Daily Mail to its original statement issued back in July.

'We fully understand the strength of feeling regarding Bob Vylan's live appearance at Glastonbury on the BBC,' said the BBC in its original statement.

'We deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behaviour appeared on the BBC and want to apologise to our viewers and listeners and in particular the Jewish community.

'We are also unequivocal that there can be no place for antisemitism at, or on, the BBC.

'It is clear that errors were made both in the lead-up to and during Bob Vylan's appearance.'

Following their performance in June, Avon and Somerset police launched an investigation into the group who were later dropped by a number of festivals and performances including Radar festival, a show at a German music venue and their US tour after their visas were revoked.

They recently also had to postpone two UK gigs over 'political pressure' including a show in Manchester following calls by Jewish leaders and MPs for it to be cancelled.

Despite the criticism, the group has seen support from fans new and old with their album Humble As The Sun re-entering the charts over the summer, climbing to number one in the UK Hip Hop and R&B album charts, and subsequent announcement of their We Won't Go Quietly 2025 UK tour.

Daily Mail has contacted Louis Theroux and BBC for comment.