Never one to shy away from a pop-culture firestorm, Kyle Sandilands has inserted himself into the music industry’s messiest feud, throwing his full support behind Ed Sheeran following Macklemore’s controversial exit from the singer’s tour.
The Kyle Sandilands Live host took to the airwaves on Thursday to weigh in on Sheeran’s Loop Tour crisis which ignited after Macklemore was axed for expressing pro-Palestine sentiments onstage.
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It was a move that Sheeran washed his hands of and resulted in all of the pop star’s support acts and his own band quitting out of protest.
But in a unhinged review of the situation, Sandilands described those who quit Sheeran’s tour as “soft c**k lefties” and applauded The A Team singer’s decision to remain apolitical as “spot on”.
“We are paying to come and watch you perform music and your other acts … music is for everyone and no one in that crowd should be made to feel unwanted by anyone that we’re paying to come and watch,” he said.
Sandilands took aim at the celebrities and artists criticising Sheeran’s approach on the situation, saying he was “sick and tired” of them “trying to tell us what to think politically”.
“You don’t know anything. You guys are all living in a bubble with millions of dollars and millions of opportunities and your own slaves and servants and management teams running around,” he said.
“You don’t even really pay attention to what’s going on. And to ignore an entire community, the Jewish people, to praise the other side in a conflict that has been going on since before Jesus was born – that’s a f**king big problem.”
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The shock jock reminded his listeners about the tragedy that unfolded at the Ariana Grande concert in 2017, when an Islamic extremist committed a suicide attack at Manchester Arena in the United Kingdom. There were 22 concertgoers killed in the attack and hundreds more were injured.
“Don’t forget it wasn’t long ago we had machine guns shooting people dead at the Ariana Grande concert,” he said.
“That’s terrorism. And if you really want to protect the Palestinian people, then have a problem with the terrorists that keep them under control.”
As for Macklemore, Sandilands reminded him “it’s not your concert” and told him to save his beliefs “until you’re going to be big enough one day to fill up a stadium of people”.
“Don’t piggyback on someone else’s career to push your own political nonsense. No one’s no one cares about that,” he said.
“And all these people who also quit that no one ever heard of before. See you then. Good luck ever getting on a concert tour again any of you.”
Sandilands joins pop icon Boy George and Pink in supporting Ed Sheeran on the issue, while Myles Smith and Guy Sebastian have publicly agreed the English singer-songwriter was not at fault of Macklemore’s axing.
The saga began on September 5 when Macklemore was opening for Sheeran in New Jersey.
He called “free Palestine” before saying: “To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, it in no way is criticism of you”.
“This message is for peace, love, for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect and equality.”
Unsatisfied with the comments, Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft allegedly started a campaign to have Macklemore removed from the tour before Sheeran’s stint at the venue in Massachusetts.
Macklemore was then axed.
Ed Sheeran has 10 US performances left on his Loop Tour, with the next show scheduled to resume in Philadelphia.