Kate Nash takes aim at Rod Stewart, J.K. Rowling and Denise Welch at Glastonbury 2025

30 June, 2025

Kate Nash hit out at Rod Stewart, Denise Welch, Keir Starmer and J.K. Rowling during her Left Field set at Glastonbury 2025.

The ‘Foundations’ star was headlining the Worthy Farm festival’s most politically active stage, curated by Billy Bragg, on Saturday night (June 28), and she took her chance to take a swipe at several public figures.

As part of her set, Nash played her recently released single ‘GERM’, in which she celebrates the trans community and calls out bigotry, inspired by the UK Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex.

As reported by the Mirror, she referred to the Harry Potter author in a tirade: “The loudest feminist voice in the UK is currently transphobic and that is something that I take very fucking personally, as a feminist and a feminist with trans friends in my life, trans people that I love and that are very important to me.”

Nash added: “Dismantling systems of oppression lies at the very core of feminism, so transphobia is not fucking feminist. And just because you’re a fucking millionaire and a fucking bully with an army of trolls on the fucking internet. I don’t give a fuck mate. I don’t give a shit about the hundreds, if not thousands of comments, that I’ve been receiving from trolls since I penned my essay, released it into a song.”

She also appeared to take aim at Welch, the mother of The 1975 frontman Matty Healy: “The music industry doesn’t know what to do with me. They tried to get rid of me, but they didn’t. There is a record executive sweating their tits off with Matt Healy’s mum.”

Introducing ‘Dickhead’, she also said: “Fuck Rod Stewart. This one goes out to Keir Starmer, J.K. Rowling, Rod Stewart and Nigel fucking Farage.”

Stewart make headlines in recent days when he appeared to endorse the right-wing Reform UK party. Speaking to The Times, he said. “We’re fed up with the Tories. We’ve got to give Farage a chance. He’s coming across well. What options have we got? I know some of his family. I know his brother, and I quite like him.”

Nash wasn’t the only artist to use their Glastonbury platform to call out Rowling – Amyl & The Sniffers’ Amy Taylor also slammed her during a speech in support of “all the T-girls, and my non-binary and trans friends”.

Starmer, likewise, was the target of angry chants during Kneecap’s much-anticipated and controversial set on the West Holts Stage on Saturday (June 28). “The Prime Minister of your country said he didn’t want us to play, so fuck Keir Starmer,” the Irish rap trio said.

Elsewhere at Glastonbury, The 1975 “delivered a reminder of their chops for tunes and showmanship” during their Friday night Pyramid headline slot, Neil Young “proved there is still power to be found in an old-school approach” the following night, while Charli XCX delivered a final victory lap for her ‘Brat’ era on the Other Stage on Saturday night and Olivia Rodrigo was joined by The Cure’s Robert Smith in her Sunday night festival-closing set.

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