Ed Sheeran\u2019s tour of North and South America was plunged into chaos Tuesday when four of his supporting acts abruptly quit in solidarity with the rapper Macklemore, who was dropped for making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.<\/p>\n
Hours after Sheeran posted on social media about Macklemore’s ouster and attributed the decision to the tour’s promoters, Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, the Danish band Lukas Graham, and Finneas posted on Instagram that they were leaving the tour.<\/p>\n
Rowe and Lukas Graham would have been replacements for Macklemore on Sheeran\u2019s remaining U.S. dates, while Beoga had been performing several songs \u2014 including some the Irish folk band co-wrote \u2014 with Sheeran around the middle of each set. Finneas, who is Billie Eilish\u2019s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cArtists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,\u201d Finneas said on Instagram. \u201cI have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pressure mounts on Sheeran<\/p>\n
The moves by his fellow artists put enormous pressure on Sheeran, who has tried to avoid politics and taking a side in the Gaza conflict, arguing that his fans don’t come to his shows to hear politics.<\/p>\n
Rowe and Beoga each cited their country\u2019s history in their statements explaining their decision. \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
Rowe called Sheeran a friend and said the British singer-songwriter changed his life. \u201cBut as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation,\u201d he said, adding that he couldn’t \u201cstand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Lukas Graham, the band that had hits with “Mama Said\u201d and \u201c7 Years,\u201d expressed gratitude to 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, seemingly referring to billionaire Robert Kraft\u2019s role in Macklemore\u2019s removal from the tour.<\/p>\n
Emails seeking comment were sent to Sheeran and the tour\u2019s promoter, the Messina Touring Group.<\/p>\n
The crisis started with Macklemore being dropped<\/p>\n
Sheeran weighed in on Macklemore being dropped after the rapper made pro-Palestinian comments onstage during their tour, saying the decision was made by the promoters alone. The British singer also said he refused to be drawn into a public discussion about the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cMacklemore coming off tour was the promoter\u2019s decision, it was not mine,\u201d Sheeran wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. \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.”<\/p>\n
Sheeran’s statement came a day after Macklemore said he was kicked off the Loop Tour after exclaiming \u201cFree Palestine!\u201d during the Sept. 5 date at New Jersey\u2019s MetLife Stadium while introducing his protest song \u201cHind\u2019s Hall.\u201d<\/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 during the concert.<\/p>\n
Macklemore said Monday on Instagram that several U.S. venues told the promoter they would prohibit him from performing as Sheeran\u2019s opening act, rallied by Kraft, owner of NFL\u2019s New England Patriots. His Kraft Group also owns Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots play.<\/p>\n
In a statement Monday, Kraft said 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
Kraft’s representatives didn’t immediately respond to a Tuesday email seeking comment about the other musical artists’ actions.<\/p>\n
Sheeran says ‘I am not complicit\u2019<\/p>\n
A growing chorus of organizations and experts say Israel\u2019s wartime actions in Gaza amount to genocide \u2014 an accusation Israel vehemently rejects.<\/p>\n
Macklemore was scheduled to perform at eight of the 10 shows Sheeran has remaining on his stadium tour, which is scheduled to resume Saturday in Philadelphia. Ahead are stops at Gillette Stadium, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.<\/p>\n
In his social media post, Sheeran said he \u201cspoke with the venues at length all week to try to build a bridge,\u201d but that \u201cthe venue\u2019s and promoter\u2019s decision was final.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wrote that he tries to use his music to \u201cbring people from all backgrounds and cultures together\u201d and that while he has personal views about \u201cthis devastating conflict,\u201d he chooses not to speak publicly because people who come to his shows \u201cdo not expect a political forum.\u201d He added: \u201cI am not complicit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI respect Macklemore\u2019s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes,” Sheeran added. “However, there is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace. I choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran\u2019s tour of North and South America was plunged into chaos Tuesday when four of his supporting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[26093,9,11,10],"class_list":["post-348188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-music-musicians","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}