Bambie Thug, the outspokenly pro-Palestinian non-binary contestant who represented Ireland in Eurovision 2024, was filmed having a profanity-filled rant after Saturday’s grand final where she scored less in the public vote, and overall, than Israel’s Eden Golan.
Speaking to journalists, Thug stated “So now that I’m free. I can talk about everything, right?
“Yeah, so Kan the broadcaster incited violence against me twice, three times. We brought it up to the EBU. They said they'd follow up.
“They waited to the last minute, still haven’t gotten a statement back to us, allowed us to be scapegoats, allowed us to be the spokesperson for standing up for ourselves.
“And yeah, the broadcaster has disobeyed the rules and I hope next year they won’t be able to compete because of that.
“And behind the scenes you don’t know the amount of pressure and the amount of work that we have been doing to change things and I’m so proud of Nemo for winning,
“I’m so proud that all of us are in the top 10 that have been fighting for this s**t behind the scenes. Because it’s been so hard and I’m so proud of us.
“And I just want to say we are what the Eurovision is. The EBU is not what the Eurovision is. F**k the EBU. I don’t even care anymore…”
The EBU referenced in Thug’s rant is the European Broadcasting Union which is responsible for the Eurovision song contest.
The EBU had reportedly demanded Thug removed the words "Ceasefire" and "Saoirse Don Phalistin" - which translates from Irish Gaelic to "freedom for Palestine" from their costume, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
Eurovision claims to have banned contestants from bringing politics to the competition, previously having forced Golan to change her initial song submission as it was about Hamas’s October 7 terror attack.
However, Portugual’s contestant performed the grand final with keffiyeh-styled nails, a Lebanese-Palestinian style which has come to represent support for Gaza. Thug also appeared wearing a Keffiyeh during media interviews, including one where she claimed to have cried alongside her team over Golan’s participation.
Kan's commentary and Thug's anger
Thug had attempted to get Golan thrown out of Eurovision only hours before the final over Kan’s commentary.
Kan, while narrating Thug’s performance, said that it was “the most scary' of the night, involving 'a lot of spells and black magic and dark clothing, Satanic symbols, and voodoo dolls.”
The commentators had also joked that, as Thug had been vocally anti-Israel and anti-Golan’s attendance in the competition, viewers should “prepare their curses”- a joking comment based on Thug’s self-declared witchery.
Despite the ‘Hurricane’ of anger directed toward Golan, Israel finished in 5th place with a total of 375 points; 323 of which came from the public telly vote.
Bambie scored only 278 points, with only 136 coming from the public telly vote.
Ireland’s public gifted Israel 10 points, despite their contestant’s stance.