Thom Yorke Walks Off Stage at His Concert in Melbourne After Being Interrupted by Pro-Palestinian Protester

During his solo show in Australia, Thom Yorke had confrontation with a protester.

The encounter occurred on Wednesday, October 30, when Yorke performed in Melbourne as part of his solo tour across Australia and Asia.

As he reached the end of his set at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl with a rendition of Radiohead’s classic “Karma Police,” an audience member interrupted. Fans at the show reported that the individual was a pro-Palestine protester.

Yorke paused his performance to listen to the voice from the crowd, then engaged with the protester before abruptly leaving the stage. He responded by saying, “Come up and say that. Right here. Come up on the fucking stage and say what you want to say. But don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it. Come on.”

Right before leaving the stage, he added, “You want to piss on everybody’s night? Come on. OK, you do. See you later then.”

Yorke later returned to the stage to complete his performance of “Karma Police,” with one attendee noting: “We general admission folks were cheering and clapping for him to come back. Thom went out of his way to thank us on the grass [after the show].”

Fan-captured footage of the incident can be found below.

Although Yorke has not publicly commented on the current conflict in the Middle East, Radiohead previously faced backlash in 2017 for performing in Israel. The sold-out concert at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv went on as planned, despite some calling it insensitive to Palestinians. Calls to cancel the show were made via an open letter from Artists For Palestine UK, which was signed by figures such as Roger Waters, Thurston Moore, Young Fathers and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Radiohead Fans for Palestine also sent an open letter to Yorke, stating: “It is the Palestinian people who have asked you to boycott and if you intend to justify your show in Tel Aviv, it is them you should address.”

In response, Yorke later issued a statement: “Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government. We don’t support [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu any more than we support Trump.”