{"id":895708,"date":"2026-09-17T20:24:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/895708\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T20:24:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T20:24:16","slug":"ed-sheeran-tour-irish-radio-station-pulls-ed-sheerans-songs-from-airwaves-as-tour-saga-fallout-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/895708\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran tour: Irish radio station pulls Ed Sheeran\u2019s songs from airwaves as tour saga fallout continues"},"content":{"rendered":"

The wild week for Ed Sheeran continues to get worse<\/a>, just hours before the English singer is due back on stage for his next concert in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old\u2019s songs have been pulled from Ireland\u2019s Classic Hits Radio after \u201cthe reaction from our listeners\u201d in response to the Shape of You singer dropping Macklemore from his US tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Ed<\/p>\n

The wild week for Ed Sheeran continues to get worse, just hours before the English singer is due back on stage for his next concert in Philadelphia.\u00a0Instagram\/@teddysphotos<\/p>\n

\u201cOur decision to remove Ed Sheeran\u2019s music from the Classic Hits Radio playlist has been carefully considered,\u201d Dave Kelly, group programme director at Bay Broadcasting, which runs the radio station, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not intended as a personal judgment on Ed Sheeran, and we acknowledge his own explanation of the circumstances surrounding recent events.\u201d<\/p>\n

The radio station is among Ireland\u2019s biggest commercial networks, with more than 379,000 listeners a week, who are predominantly in the 35+ category.<\/p>\n

Kelly said they felt compelled to follow in the footsteps of Sheeran\u2019s Irish tour acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, who have pulled out of the Loop Tour\u2019s remaining shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an independent Irish-owned radio station, however, we believe it is important to listen to our audience and to stand alongside Irish artists who have made what is undoubtedly a significant professional decision based on their own convictions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, our position is a simple one. We believe in peace, humanity and respect, and in the right of people and artists to express and act upon their sincerely held views.<\/p>\n

\"Singer\/songwriter<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old\u2019s songs have been pulled from Ireland\u2019s Classic Hits Radio in response to the Shape of You singer dropping Macklemore from his US tour.\u00a0Ethan Miller\/Getty Images for iHeartMedia<\/p>\n

\u201cIn light of the strength of feeling expressed by our listeners and the decisions taken by Irish artists involved in the tour, we believe removing Ed Sheeran\u2019s music from our playlist is the appropriate decision for Classic Hits Radio at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The radio station said its decision to drop the Galway Girl singer\u2019s music from its playlists would remain \u201cunder review\u201d, therefore not ruling out a return to the airwaves down the track.<\/p>\n

UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy\u00a0told BBC Radio she feels for Sheeran, who has found himself in an impossible position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s been left in a really difficult decision, stuck between his supporting artists, whom he wants to promote and support, and the promoters, and I hope that people will still go and see his show,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Snowball effect<\/p>\n

Sheeran\u2019s week spun out of control after he said his hand was forced in dropping American rapper Macklemore from the tour, following the 43-year-old\u2019s \u201cFree Palestine\u201d remarks on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on September 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cMacklemore coming off tour was the promoter\u2019s decision, it was not mine,\u201d Sheeran told fans in a lengthy statement online.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sheeran\u2019s week spun out of control after he said his hand was forced in dropping American rapper Macklemore from his the Loop Tour.\u00a0Duncan barnes<\/p>\n

\u201cMacklemore\u2019s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheeran went on to name Jewish billionaire businessman Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium and the New England Patriots<\/a> NFL team, as the key man behind the decision who said he would not allow \u201chate speech\u201d inside his venue and rallied other stadium owners to follow suit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict,\u201d Sheeran said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t have them, and it doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t care. Nor does it mean I don\u2019t support causes in my own, personal way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MELBOURNE,<\/p>\n

Macklemore empathised for the position his friend and fellow musician had been put in but hit back at Sheeran for not taking a stand regardless of the cost to him.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Sheeran has maintained a neutral view on politics publicly but has previously performed at a charity concert for Ukraine and also released a charity single with U2 for the same political cause.<\/p>\n

Macklemore empathised for the position his friend and fellow musician had been put in but hit back at Sheeran for not taking a stand regardless of the cost to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking a side can cost you,\u201d the Glorious singer wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cMoney, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access. I\u2019ve lost all of those things. But there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lukas<\/p>\n

Sheeran\u2019s other opening acts (like Danish band Lukas Graham, pictured) followed suit in solidarity with Macklemore, protesting artists being silenced.\u00a0AP Photo\/Evan Agostini<\/p>\n

Similarly, Sheeran\u2019s other opening acts followed suit in solidarity with Macklemore, protesting artists being silenced.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoney doesn\u2019t give you the right to own the conversation,\u201d Lukas Graham said as they dropped out of the tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s bank balance should decide who gets the right to speak or which suffering we\u2019re allowed to acknowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

True cost of fallout<\/p>\n

While Sheeran\u2019s tour is scheduled to continue on September 19 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, how packed the stadium is remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

There are a plethora of fans trying to resell tickets in protest, while others petition ticketmaster for a full refund now that the opening acts won\u2019t be performing.<\/p>\n

Whether he will find replacement opening acts for the remainder of the tour is also unknown – the Perfect crooner has 17 more shows to go, across both North and South America, with his final show scheduled for December 11 in Mexico City. <\/p>\n

Sheeran\u2019s also lost about 300,000 followers with 47.3 million Instagram followers as of Thursday, down from 47.6 million earlier in the week. This can have a flow on effect when it comes to music sales and brand deals.<\/p>\n

Should have stuck by rapper<\/p>\n

Crisis PR expert Lauren Beeching believes the singer would have been better off backing Macklemore, regardless of the short-term cost it might have had.<\/p>\n

“I would have advised Ed to stand by his decision and never remove Macklemore from the tour,” she told Reuters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he [Sheeran] invited him [on tour]. He gave him the freedom to speak on what he wanted to speak on.<\/p>\n

\"Ed<\/p>\n

Crisis PR expert Lauren Beeching believes the singer would have been better off backing Macklemore, regardless of the short-term cost it might have had.\u00a0Larry Busacca\/Getty Images for MTV<\/p>\n

“Ed would have known what he was going to speak on, and he should have stood by it.”<\/p>\n

However, crisis comms specialist Carla Speight said Sheeran was dammed if he did and dammed if he didn\u2019t in this age of online cancel culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cEd\u2019s name trending and Ed\u2019s fans being told to boycott. He\u2019s effectively being thrown under the bus for a decision Macklemore and the promoters should have seen coming,\u201d Speight told UK\u2019s Prolific North<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a pattern with a lot of online cancel culture right now. The people making the real decisions are out of reach, so the anger lands on whoever is closest: the pop star, the familiar face, the easy target. Meanwhile, the promoters who made the call have stayed relatively quiet and let their headline act take the heat.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be honest: Benjamin Netanyahu isn\u2019t going to change course because of what a pop star posts. Ed isn\u2019t going to change it either, regardless of what he says. Speak up and he splits his fanbase. Stay quiet and he\u2019s condemned for silence. Either way he loses, and Gaza gains nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Some experts say this isn\u2019t the end of the line for the four-time Grammy winner and his career will bounce back.\u00a0Kevork Djansezian<\/p>\n

But other experts say this isn\u2019t the end of the line for the four-time Grammy winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cEd Sheeran\u2019s young,\u201d Ray Waddell, chief content director for media and conferences for the Oak View Group, told Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a lot of tours ahead of him and these tours make a lot of money. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a business and it\u2019s not going away. Everybody\u2019s going to be doing this next year and 10 years after that, God willing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The wild week for Ed Sheeran continues to get worse, just hours before the English singer is due…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134],"class_list":["post-895708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895708","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=895708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}