Ed Sheeran has issued a statement after Macklemore was dropped from his tour following pro-Palestine comments the rapper made on stage.<\/p>\n
Macklemore was removed from the US leg of Sheeran\u2019s Loop tour following remarks he made during a September 5 concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.<\/p>\n
While introducing Hind\u2019s Hall, his protest song about the war in Gaza, the rapper shouted \u201cFree Palestine\u201d while criticising Israel\u2019s treatment of Palestinians.<\/p>\n
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By continuing you agree to our Terms<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTo all of my Jewish brothers and sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, it in no way is criticism of you,\u201d he said on stage.<\/p>\n In his first public statement on the controversy, Sheeran said Macklemore had been forced out by promoters and venues, rather than it being a decision made by the singer himself.<\/p>\n \u201cMacklemore coming off tour was the promoter\u2019s decision, it was not mine,\u201d Sheeran wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cMacklemore\u2019s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living.\u201d<\/p>\n The Shape of You singer said he would refrain from publicly sharing his \u201cpersonal views on this devastating conflict\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI have always used my platform and music to bring people from all backgrounds and cultures together and this won\u2019t ever change,\u201d Sheeran added.<\/p>\n \u201cThose who have been to one of my shows will know that they are about unity, joy, escapism, love, and a place for everyone to feel welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a reason I do not use my professional platform for politics \u2013 my audience includes young people, often children, of all backgrounds. Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum.<\/p>\n \u201cI respect Macklemore\u2019s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes. However, there is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace.<\/p>\n \u201cI choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed. If we only focus on shouting the loudest, nothing will ever change. There are different approaches to being an advocate for change.\u201d<\/p>\n Sheeran\u2019s comments come as his tour faces further turmoil after four musicians announced they were pulling out in protest over the removal of Macklemore as a supporting act.<\/p>\n Irish performers Aaron Rowe and Beoga, Danish group Lukas Graham and US musician Finneas all said they would no longer take part in Sheeran\u2019s tour.<\/p>\n The four acts later released separate statements to announce their departures from the tour as they stand in solidarity with Macklemore.<\/p>\n Beoga, Sheeran\u2019s touring band, cited their home country\u2019s history of colonialism, famine and occupation as a reason behind their decision to exit the tour.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are Irish people who understand colonialism. As founding members of the Irish Artists for Palestine movement, we are committed activists for justice and will continue to be,\u201d Beoga said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been friends with Ed for over 10 years now and will continue to be We believed in dialogue as a means of progressing the plight of the Palestinian people.\u201d<\/p>\n Rowe described Sheeran as a friend who had changed his life, making clear the decision was not taken lightly.<\/p>\n \u201cBut as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation,\u201d he said, saying he could not \u201cstand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n Finneas, brother of pop star Billie Eilish, has publicly advocated for Palestinians in the past and continued to do so amid the Macklemore controversy.<\/p>\n \u201cArtists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cI have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.\u201d<\/p>\n Lukas Graham, meanwhile, expressed gratitude towards Sheeran and called it \u201ca difficult decision.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMoney doesn\u2019t give you the right to own the conversation. Nobody\u2019s bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we\u2019re allowed to acknowledge,\u201d the band posted.<\/p>\n \u201cI love Ed, and I\u2019m grateful for everything we\u2019ve shared. That hasn\u2019t changed. But I can\u2019t put these words into the world and carry on with this tour as things stand.\u201d<\/p>\n Following his removal from the tour, Macklemore said several US venues had told promoters they would not allow him to perform as Sheeran\u2019s opening act, laying blame on pressures on billionaire Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n \u201cEd told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,\u201d the rapper wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cEd also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.\u201d<\/p>\n Kraft responded with a statement on Monday, saying the decision to cancel Macklemore was a result of his recent comments \u201cand a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n Pink inserted herself in the drama after she re-shared a post online from advocacy group StopAntisemitism that criticised Macklemore\u2019s mid-performance message about Palestine.<\/p>\n The US singer, born Alecia Moore, later released a lengthy statement to address widespread condemnation she received over the re-shared post.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been quiet in my own words for a week, which you know isn\u2019t like me. So here they are,\u201d Pink wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cLast Sunday I reposted somebody else\u2019s post about Macklemore\u2019s set at Ed Sheeran\u2019s show. It said things in words I didn\u2019t write, and I wouldn\u2019t have chosen all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Pink stated her own view on the issue and pointed to her Jewish heritage.<\/p>\n \u201cI was born a Jew. I didn\u2019t pick it, and I\u2019ve never hidden it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd this week a whole lot of people decided what I believe without asking me, without checking a single thing I\u2019ve ever said or done, because a repost and the word \u201cJew\u201d were apparently enough to fill in the rest. But let me fill it in… myself.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I don\u2019t speak for Israel, or for any government. I never have. What I said in October 2023 is still exactly what I believe: Hamas is a terrorist organisation.<\/p>\n \u201cPalestinians deserve a future that honours their humanity and their aspirations. Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child.\u201d<\/p>\n The singer cited a previous on-stage controversy by Macklemore as part of the reason his message during Sheeran\u2019s concert did not sit right with her.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in the room at the Grammys in 2014 when Macklemore rapped Same Love and thirty-three couples, gay and straight, got married to it, and I cheered, no questions asked,\u201d Pink continued.<\/p>\n \u201cFour months later Macklemore put on a hooked nose, a black beard and a bowl cut, performed in it, and called it a \u201crandom costume.\u201d Every Jew I know knew exactly what it was.<\/p>\n \u201cThe same love, it turned out, had a guest list, and we weren\u2019t on it. But he apologised, and I let it go, because that\u2019s what we do. \u201c<\/p>\n Macklemore later insisted it was a \u201crandom costume\u201d that he wore at the event and it was not his \u201cidea of a stereotype of anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran has issued a statement after Macklemore was dropped from his tour following pro-Palestine comments the rapper…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":893526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,2331,134],"class_list":["post-893525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-culture","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}