{"id":47375,"date":"2026-08-15T21:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=47375"},"modified":"2026-08-15T21:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T16:24:24","slug":"i-was-young-and-naive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=47375","title":{"rendered":"I was young and naive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/skepta\">Skepta<\/a> has responded to an old photograph of himself posing with an Israeli flag, saying the image was not intended as a political statement.<\/p>\n<p>The photo\u00a0dates from the time\u00a0of the MC\u2019s first ever show in Tel Aviv in\u00a02007, and earlier today\u00a0(August 15),\u00a0he responded to a post that re-shared the image.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeep seeing this pop-up on my timeline\u00a0kmt\u00a0I was young and naive,\u201d he wrote. \u201cFirst ever show in Tel Aviv and thought I\u2019d gas up my fans with this\u00a0picture\u00a0but this picture is not a political statement in anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Keep seeing this pop-up on my timeline kmt I was young and naive. First ever show in Tel Aviv and thought I\u2019d gas up my fans with this picture but this picture is not a political statement in anyway \ud83d\ude16 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3dh1ohXlmT\">https:\/\/t.co\/3dh1ohXlmT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Big Smoke \u2013 (@Skepta) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Skepta\/status\/2088566365472874968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The rapper has\u00a0previously expressed his support for Palestine, including in May 2021, when he responded to a social media post asking the question \u201cTell me something good\u201d, to which he replied: \u201cFREE PALESTINE\u201d.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CPiThVMtFld\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In 2024, he faced criticism over his collaboration with PUMA because of the company\u2019s sponsorship of the Israeli Football Association.\u00a0\u201cAin\u2019t\u00a0gonna\u00a0lie, I\u2019ve\u00a0realised\u00a0it\u2019s a lot more than reading the small print before signing contracts,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cGotta do your due diligence and yes I am forever a student in practice to eventually take the independent route.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ain\u2019t gonna lie, I\u2019ve realised it\u2019s a lot more than reading the small print before signing contracts, gotta do your due diligence and yes I am forever a student in practice to eventually take the independent route. Love Abid\ud83e\uddd8\ud83c\udfff\u200d\u2642\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LSDXj83NYF\">https:\/\/t.co\/LSDXj83NYF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Big Smoke \u2013 (@Skepta) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Skepta\/status\/1792247823871656381?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 19, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Also in 2024,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/skepta-removes-single-artwork-following-holocaust-comparisons-3568354\">he removed the original artwork for his single \u2018Gas Me Up (Diligent)\u2019 after it received criticism for evoking images of Jewish prisoners in Nazi concentration camps<\/a>. He explained that\u00a0the\u00a0imagery was part of an album campaign inspired by his parents moving to the UK in the 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can promise you that was definitely not our\u00a0plan\u00a0so I have removed it and I vow to be more mindful going forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>In April,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/skepta-releases-new-ep-mas-tiempo-vol-2-says-hes-adding-the-finishing-touches-to-celebratory-new-album-fork-and-knife-3942534\">Skepta released the house-influenced EP \u2018M\u00e1s Tiempo Vol. 2\u2019<\/a>\u00a0and revealed he was putting the\u00a0finishing touches\u00a0to his forthcoming album \u2018Fork\u00a0And\u00a0Knife\u2019. That record still does not have a release date, but it will be the follow-up to his 2019 album \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/skepta-ignorance-is-bliss-review-2503032\">Ignorance Is Bliss<\/a>\u2018.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/reading-leeds-2026-line-up-headliners-announced-poster-tickets-3914124\">He is due to play at Reading &amp; Leeds later this month<\/a>, and last night (August 14), he played at Sziget Festival in Budapest.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/reviews\/live\/bring-me-the-horizon-rose-gray-sziget-2026-day-four-round-up-3962845\">In\u00a0<i>NME<\/i>\u2018s round-up<\/a>, we wrote: \u201cWhenever an artist starts their set with one of their biggest songs, you know you\u2019re probably in for a stacked performance. That certainly was true of Skepta\u2019s main stage show last night, which kicked off on an instant high with \u2018Shutdown\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('consent', 'revoke');\n  fbq('init', '370979561341328');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Skepta has responded to an old photograph of himself posing with an Israeli flag, saying the image was not intended as a political statement. The photo\u00a0dates from the time\u00a0of the MC\u2019s first ever show in Tel Aviv in\u00a02007, and earlier today\u00a0(August 15),\u00a0he responded to a post that re-shared the image. \u201cKeep seeing this pop-up on&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/skepta_met_gala_2026.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}