Last weekend, two people were refused entry into London’s O2 Arena because one of them was wearing a shirt that said “Free Gaza.” When the man wearing the shirt offered to turn it inside-out, security — saying they were simply abiding by venue “policy” — told him he still wouldn’t be admitted, because he could theoretically turn the shirt back out again. Security also refused to give the man a different shirt to wear, and wouldn’t even give him a discount at the venue’s merch store. The other person with him luckily took a video of the incident, which went viral, and prompted the venue to issue an apology.

The two people were at the O2 to see the comedian Peter Kay. “[Our] policy prohibits items that ‘in our reasonable opinion, may cause danger or disruption to any Event or to other visitors,'” the O2 wrote on social media. “On this occasion that was not the case and entry should have been granted.” Read the full statement below (and as always, free Palestine).

We are a diverse and inclusive venue, as is our fanbase, and we sincerely apologise for any offence and upset this incident may have caused. 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. 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. 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 guests. It is for this reason our ‘prohibited items’ policy exists, stipulated in our terms and conditions for all events. This policy prohibits items that “in our reasonable opinion, may cause danger or disruption to any Event or to other visitors.” On this occasion that was not the case and entry should have been granted. 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. In light of this incident we are currently reviewing our policies and procedures to prevent this happening again and wish to extend our apologies once more.

@watford.psc Denied entry to the O2 for wearing a t-shirt for 🇵🇸 #palestine #boycott #boycotttheo2 #freepalestine #endthegenocide #fy #fyp #viral #gaza #savepalestine #uk #endoccupation ♬ original sound – Watford PSC

Statement regarding entry refusal to The O2 arena on Saturday 10 August 2024. https://t.co/n8BsvbNEdR pic.twitter.com/QFDRyEk1i7

— The O2 (@TheO2) August 17, 2024