Ed Sheeran speaks out on Macklemore being dropped from tour over Palestine row: “I am not complicit”

Ed Sheeran has spoken out following Macklemore being dropped as a support act from his tour regarding comments about Palestine, telling fans that he is “not complicit”.

Controversy around the rapper began when he made an impassioned speech while opening for Ed Sheeran across his US tour dates. In his comments on stage, he called for “all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality” and called for a “free Palestine”.

Logo depois de fazer os comentários, ele enfrentou pedidos de sua remoção da turnê pelo Israeli-American Council, que alegou ter usado sua plataforma para “avançar uma agenda política unilateral”.

Macklemore would then respond to the backlash, saying striving for equality “should never be controversial”.

Then yesterday, it was confirmed that he had been dropped from the tour following the comments, and Messina Touring Group, a promoter of the U. S. leg of Sheeran’s tour said it was because some venues said that “they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the line-up”.

Addressing the move, Macklemore said that he does not see himself as “a victim”, but instead “the victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence”.

He also went on to call Sheeran a “friend”, and said the musician “was in a fucked up position” after Robert Kraft — the owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium — told Sheeran that the shows would not be able to go ahead with Macklemore taking part.

Kraft also spoke about his part in the row, sharing that while he “agreed with Macklemore” in many ways, his comments went against the venue’s “longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech”.

Agora, Sheeran também comentou sobre a situação e disse que não foi sua decisão expulsar Macklemore da turnê.

He added that he added Macklemore to his tour because he “respects him as an artist”, but was later informed by his team that multiple shows of his would likely be cancelled due to the rapper’s comments about Palestine.

Sheeran então repetiu que a decisão de tirar Macklemore do tour não foi tomada por ele, escrevendo: “Macklemore sair do tour foi decisão do promotor, não foi minha.”.

Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me. I 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.”.

In his comment, he then went on to share that he actively chooses to keep his “personal views on this devastating conflict” to himself, so that he can “use [his] platform and music to bring people from all backgrounds and cultures together” and make the gigs about “unity, joy, escapism, love, and a place for everyone to feel welcome.”.

O astro pop concluiu compartilhando que passou a última semana “tentando construir pontes, encontrar uma solução” mas não conseguiu “conseguir fazer isso”.

Others who have spoken out about Macklemore following his comments on stage include P! NK, who reshared a post from the StopAntisemitism group, which claimed that Macklemore had “accused Israel of a false ‘genocide,’ and turned a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state”.

Foo Fighter’s Chris Shiflett, however, backed the rapper up for his on-stage comments, writing on X: “I get the ‘STFU and play’ thing all the time and I don’t subscribe to it.”.

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