The 17th century Rokeby Venus painting by Diego Velázquez has been damaged by two Just Stop Oil protesters in the National Gallery in London. Armed with hammers, the two students smashed the protective glass of the painting. The same painting suffered a slashing in 1914 by the suffragette and fine arts student Mary Richardson.
In October 2023, when the cast of the iconic play Les Misérables performed at the Sondheim Theatre in London, they launched into their famous protest song, ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’ as a part of their act. But what happened after that was entirely unscripted. The stage was abruptly taken over by activists from the Just Stop Oil movement as their t-shirts and banners proclaimed, while they chanted to the audience to ‘join the rebellion’.
