The Independent<\/a> reported.<\/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 Mr Kelly 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
\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 decision will remain \u201cunder review\u201d, leaving open the possibility Sheeran\u2019s music could eventually return.<\/p>\n
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the singer had been placed in a difficult situation.<\/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
The controversy erupted after American rapper Macklemore was removed from the tour following his \u201cFree Palestine\u201d remarks during a September 4 performance at New Jersey\u2019s MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n
Sheeran has insisted the decision was not his.<\/p>\n
\u201cMacklemore coming off tour was the promoter\u2019s decision, it was not mine,\u201d Sheeran told fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cMacklemore\u2019s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheeran said stadium owner Robert Kraft objected to what he described as \u201chate speech\u201d, with other venues subsequently following 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
Macklemore acknowledged that taking a public position could come at a significant professional price.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking a side can cost you,\u201d he 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
Other supporting acts have since pulled out, while some fans are attempting to resell tickets or seek refunds.<\/p>\n
Sheeran is scheduled to perform at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on September 19, with another 17 shows across North and South America before the tour finishes in Mexico City in December.<\/p>\n
The online fallout is also growing, with Sheeran\u2019s Instagram following falling from about 47.6 million earlier in the week to 47.3 million by Thursday.<\/p>\n
Crisis communications specialist Carla Speight said Sheeran had been caught in an almost impossible situation.<\/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 she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeak 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran\u2019s turbulent week has taken another turn, with one of Ireland\u2019s biggest commercial radio networks pulling his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":896137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,2331,134,136,1720],"class_list":["post-896136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-culture","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896136","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=896136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}