{"id":609949,"date":"2026-09-24T05:32:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T05:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/609949\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T05:32:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T05:32:13","slug":"ed-sheeran-mural-in-dunedin-vandalised-again-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/609949\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran mural in Dunedin vandalised again"},"content":{"rendered":"

While opening for Sheeran this month at New Jersey\u2019s MetLife Stadium, Macklemore shouted \u201cFree Palestine!\u201d and told Palestinians they were \u201cnot forgotten\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"EdEd Sheeran and Macklemore have a longstanding friendship. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cMacklemore coming off tour was the promoter\u2019s decision, it was not mine,\u201d Sheeran wrote in a lengthy Instagram post, adding that the rapper\u2019s contract was ended by the promoter, Messina Touring Group.<\/p>\n

According to Sheeran, venues on the tour \u201ccommunicated that they would pull the shows if he was still supporting\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sheeran\u2019s other opening acts resigned after Macklemore was dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy concerts have always been a safe space for everyone, and that matters hugely to me,\u201d Sheeran said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis week, criticism was about something much more important and I\u2019ve had to take and make difficult decisions and I have made mistakes, and I\u2019m so, so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bath St mural of the British singer was created in 2018 by artist Tyler Kennedy Stent before Sheeran played three shows at the Forsyth Barr Stadium.<\/p>\n

Last Thursday morning, the words \u201cFree Palestine\u201d were written in large black lettering across the bottom of the mural.<\/p>\n

\u201cNg\u0101 mihi nui to the person who wrote \u201cFree Palestine\u201d on the mural,\u201d Stent told RNZ following the incident.<\/p>\n

He said the tag was a \u201cwelcome addition to the mural\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While opening for Sheeran this month at New Jersey\u2019s MetLife Stadium, Macklemore shouted \u201cFree Palestine!\u201d and told Palestinians…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6030,6788,13973,156,78,424,14795,111,139,69,154770,13974,29262],"class_list":["post-609949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-again","tag-dunedin","tag-ed","tag-entertainment","tag-in","tag-life","tag-mural","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-reporters","tag-sheeran","tag-vandalised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}