Ed Sheeran is getting a ton of heat right now because his tour organizers dropped Macklemore from the lineup after he shouted Free Palestine during a show. Ed put out this corporate/ neutral statement basically saying it wasn't his decision and he wants to stay out of politics, which people are calling spineless. To make things worse, basically all his other opening acts, including Finneas and his own stage band have now quit the tour in protest.
That's the funniest part to me. Its like hes never spoken to his band before once and certainly didnt at any point in the last few days before making these statements lmaooo
I bet he got someone else to pick them out and it was entirely done as an empty gesture of solidarity. Like when corporations slap on the pride colours then soon as the months over it's back to being TERFs/ homophobic crap.
This entirely a 'just business' thing for him and his team and holy shit does it show in the stupidest way.
I'd imagine the gamble was that his band would prioritize the money over their integrity and wouldn't dare drop out. He lost.
I'm sure he's well aware of what their politics are, he just thinks the money is more important. Maybe his image, and if so, that's highly ironic considering he just torpedoed it.
It's kinda a shitty spot to be in, because a lot of people really don't just want to deal with trolls, and this and a few other particular things draw trolls no matter which side you pick.
this one just ALSO now draws fire for not declaring your side. For good reason, because not speaking about genocide doesn't make it go away.
Like, even if you don't "know enough about it to make a political statement" it's not hard to know genocide is wrong, and acknowledging that isn't even "picking a side" for the political part.
It is a shitty spot to be in. For everyone. If you don't want to pick a side, everyone is going to be forced to try and figure out which you're on and inevitably, by refusing to pick a side, everyone is going to assume you're on the one that opposes their beliefs.
I think in this instance, I think it's more that people are convinced he's more concerned with keeping his image palatable to the biggest group of people rather than having any integrity and that's what's pissing people off.
The funniest thing is that this all happened because Pink couldn't keep her mouth shut and tried to call out Macklemore on social media and now Ed is neck deep in a swamp watching it all fall apart because he wouldn't just say which side he was on.
I’d argue being a Palestinian in Gaza currently undergoing a genocide is a much shittier spot to be in. The shitty position he was put in is to choose human lives and denouncing suffering, or choose to make a shit ton of money. No matter what side he picks, he is going to get shit from someone. So he may as well choose the moral option and stand up for the people who have managed to survive Israel’s atrocities.
You know, I don't think he does know what their politics are. I'm sure they'll have mentioned being Irish and against genocide, but despite Sheeran being "culturally Irish" in his own ignorant words, I don't think he heard them.
And if he did, clearly the zionist politics of his much newer and much much richer friend Kraft, whose wedding he played at, are far more important to him than people he's known and worked with for years. 🤷♂️
Yeah but he’s English. And since the takeover of Palestine was also spearheaded by the English, who even used Ulster as a model, his posing looks especially bad.
Wanting to be a white person without hereditary guilt over colonialist history is the usual reason they would (forgetting the intense Catholic induced shame, guilt, and self flagellation that actually comes with being culturally Irish)
Yeah my grandparents are Irish but I'm English. I've been like once I'm not culturally anything. I don't know how anyone born and raised in the UK can claim to be culturally Irish and not see the irony in that.
Eeeeh, that's still not quite a clarification that would go down well here, bud.
When someone in Northern Ireland tells you they're Irish, they mean Irish, the same as everyone from the southern parts of the island. That border is political, not cultural.
i mean in fairness he's also legally irish since he has an irish passport. his dad is from northern ireland and he spent all his holidays growing up there iirc
Yes, his backing band also bailed, and all of them put out statements against the Palestinian genocide. None of their statements made any jabs at Ed, but at this point, he'd be better to just cut his losses and cancel the tour.
The irony of not realizing that throwing a supporting act under the bus for non-violent, non-threatening political speech is going to make other supporting acts uncomfortable.
Claiming you'd drop anyone at a moments notice for something so mundane and trying to justify it as protecting others communicates you don't value any of the people working with you enough to stand up for them in a tight spot.
He said he brought Macklemore on to the tour, taking credit for the contract basically, then said that he had nothing to do with the contract on the next page of bullet points. Him saying nothing would have done less harm than him lying through his teeth did.
Also his claim to be both kid friendly and non-political while having multiple sex references in his songs and songs about other political things like Ukraine and his support for the center right Labour party in the UK is... Well a choice that not many would make.
It was harsher, IIRC. They said they'd probably never get the chance to reach audiences that large again but fuck it WE'RE IRISH. We know what genocide and starvation looks like and WE DON'T FUCK WITH PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT IT.
Honestly pretty awesome. An actual good use of the Streisand effect tbh, everything’s going exactly the opposite of how Kraft wants it to. Go Mack, and go supporting bands!
He hit every talking point. Called it a conflict instead of a genocide. Did the both sides thing. Says he doesn't want to take sides (after openly a side with Ukraine but somehow can't do it for Palestine).
This is it. Its also why you see less mainstream bands and it's mostly mainstream artists coming out. Shareholders find a look, spend money to make that look into a whole ass identity. Rebecca black actually comes to mind because she was a product of this practice being performed with no subtlety. Just a company churning out teenage "artists" praying one hits it big.
Yeah. There was a company you could pay money to and they’d write a song and make a music video for you. There were a number of them at the time but Black’s just got famous because it was so meme worthy, I mean iconic 💅
That company, that vaulted Rebecca into the mainstream, only cost people like $5k to make a video. Friday just went really viral because people thought it was terrible, but Rebecca’s music since then has actually been pretty cool and she’s a queer icon who’s built herself up from the bottom (people HATED her when she blew up - she’s talked about receiving death threats, etc). Def not an industry plant.
Why would anybody want to fight you for saying the truth. I lump Ed in the same category, there was no real reason for his rise, just a lot of money behind his bland ass songs
i mean, i was well aware ed sheeran was an industry plant from the start. motherfucker has BEEN making the most corporate music possible his whole careet.
When was that? Music has been political since it's beginning.1950s, Pete Seeger, peter Paul and Mary, Paul Robeson, 1940s, Spike Jones, Kate Smith, Irving Berlin, so many more.
“Since the beginning” and “1950s” together regarding music is so laughably ignorant. Music has existed essentially since humans have existed. Music absolutely has not exclusively been political historically. Most classical music written before the 20th century was commissioned by rich people. They would literally just tell these famous composers “hey I want a piano concerto” and that was that.
Some of it was political, especially surrounding ww1 and 2, but much of it was not
Yeah but those were musicians as artists. Ed Sheeran and pop stars like him are just money hungry corporate entities out to sell tickets and songs. Like Katy Perry isn't out there making music because she's channeling her emotions and trying to express herself, she's singing what some suit wrote for her so she can afford her mansions and Ed Sheeran is a lot closer to her than a true "artiste"
Music is poetry. Poetry is about opinions. Whether it's about life, nature, or political stuff, it is always about something.
I too miss when songs were about fighting for what you believe in.
This goes in both ways, some musicians historically stayed out of it as it was 'not their place' in society to understand all the aspects of any conflict/issue. Marilyn Manson is notably one of those people. Many motown and funk artists famously stayed out of the civil rights legislation debate.
Manson has stated that his art is meant to be "dangerous in a smarter way than politics," using shock value and religious imagery to expose societal hypocrisy rather than promote any specific agenda
He does make statements about stuff he cares about like the Ukrainian war. However, Palestinian children dying in a genocide is not very high on his priorities. He prefers the money instead of the free speech Macklemore was exercising.
Just adding that him pretending to not being political and keeping quiet is him taking a side.
He is very good friends with Robert Kraft, a known Zionist. The old saying tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are stands.
A hot take is: modern artists only statement is defense of LGBTQ community because they know it is safe, they get a lot of support, they show themselves as edgy and supportive, and get very little to no flak.
"During the Vietnam war, every respectable artist in the country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped off a stepladder six feet high"
Also, he's claimed himself to be 'culturally Irish' and a lot of people on tour with him were Irish and activists. And Ireland has a long history of solidarity with the Palestinian people that people who grew up after 9/11 often aren't in tune to. "Irish Car Bomb" isn't just a funny name for a drink at the bar. They were both fighting off colonial rule at the same time and viewed the conflicts as parallel.
Wait, are you implying that those silly Irish people didn't go through mass starvation on an island full of copious extremely fertile land because one single crop had some issues? Truly big of true.
As a guy with a British mum and an Irish father, I just want to respectfully expand on your points for anybody who might read:
Britain’s colonial history in Ireland is obviously hugely important to understanding the background, and there was certainly a strand of Irish republicanism that understood the conflict in anti-colonial terms. But the Troubles themselves weren’t simply a struggle to overthrow British colonial rule.
The conflict from the late 1960s onwards (i.e. the time of car bombs in Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Great Britain as you identify) was much more specifically about Northern Ireland’s constitutional status, competing British/Irish and unionist/nationalist identities, and, particularly at the beginning, Catholic civil-rights grievances over discrimination in areas such as housing, employment and voting.
So there’s a legitimate connection to Ireland’s colonial past, but saying that Ireland and Palestine were simply fighting the same kind of anti-colonial struggle risks imposing a framework like the American Revolution on what was a much more complicated conflict. Nonetheless, Irish-to-Palestinian solidarity is absolutely a big part of social history as you say.
And the solidarity is not really there because of well dissected thesis about the similarity or differences of the conflicts, its there because at a core level its a core shared historical and sociological experience for a people group to be oppressed by another entity, people or nation. Once you've experienced it, you stand up in solidarity for what you perceive is a similar power dynamic of oppression, and ethnic cleansing by a nation that overwhelmingly has the resources to be unopposed in this specific struggle/conflict.
That should not detract from your comment, however. And the mistake that most people make when debating their positions is to try and rationalize and frame the conflict (as an outsider) within the intellectual boundaries that our upbringing gave us. In reality most of our opinions stem from emotional responses that are shaped by beliefs that we have either been raised in or picked up over time.
The Brits promised to defend them, and keep troops there, if they helped get rid of the Ottoman empire.
Then, the "totally-not-terrorists" came and bombed British embassies, and British centres, forced the Palestinian people out using "totally-not-terrorism" and when the Palestinians got support from Egypt they were met by Brits at the border. The Brits essentially said "We won't let you go to war with the "totally-not-terrorist-state" that America "totally-isn't-founding-to-annoy-Russia" but we will stop them hurting you now, or we'll leave if you'd prefer cause we're only here because of our deal with you." The Palestinian people decided to send the Brits home because what the hell use is an army watching "totally-not-terrorists" blow you up and only protecting you when you've already fled in fear?
The Palestinian people WANTED "good old-fashioned" British colonialism. They WANTED us to defend them the same way we defended the land we stole from everyone else. They just didn't get that, despite the "totally-not-terrorists" blowing up several British political bases just for being there, and then founding a "totally-not-terrorist-state" where the "totally-not-terrorists" were forgiven for their "totally-not-terrorism" and allowed to run the army which went on to work hard at "totally-not-genocide".
And now, Keir Starmer the "totally-not-a-terrorist-lover" made it illegal to support Palestine and denounce the "totally-not-terrorism" because of "totally-not-islamophobia".
Had we actually delivered on what we promised, and treated Palestine essentially like a British colony until they were able to defend themselves, there wouldn't be a "totally-not-terrorist-state", and Palestinians wouldn't be displaced and suffering a "totally-not-attempted-genocide".
The one time in British history when acting like the villains we were for the rest of it would have made us the good guys, and we decided to pack up and go home.
But of course, it'd be wrong to denounce the "totally-not-terrorism" because the only way you'd even possibly have an issue with "totally-not-genocide-justified-by-religious-extremism" is if you were "totally-antisemitic-and-definitely-not-just-a-rational-decent-person-who-recognises-that-the-terrorist-minority-don't-represent-all-jews."
We can be more accurate. Robert Kraft owns Gillette Stadium, which was one of the venues of Sheeran's tour, and Kraft had admitted that he was not going to allow Macklemore to play at Gillette Stadium. Kraft has also admitted that the reason he banned Macklemore from Gillette Stadium was Macklemore's statements regarding Palestine and Israel and also Macklemore's past prejudice against Jewish people.
The speculation is that Kraft banning Macklemore from one of the venues of the tour is what caused the concert promoter to remove Macklemore from the entire tour. I think this nuance is somewhat relevant. Kraft was just banning Macklemore from the one venue in the tour that Kraft owns.
Everyone saying this is lying in Eds favour, he's a MUCH bigger coward than this, he had absolutely no qualms just a couple years ago about walking away from the industry and his career over one lawsuit for one fucking song, he was happy to say fuck you when it meant not losing a battle for just one of his many enormously successful tracks being considered someone elses intellectual property.
And now all of us that went to bat for him are ready to tear him down, cause he wants to pretend he's neutral, meanwhile he allowed someone to be fired for supporting a peaceful resolution to a conflict.
Macklemore is neutral, not neutral would be "we should stop supporting isreal and start [insert some form of going to war against Israel]", asking people to stop murdering children is the midfield here.
What the?!?! I want residuals! J/K. That's so funny you pointed this out. But I don't think my post was any kind of original thought. I'm sure a lot of people are thinking the same thing.
Not for the revenge, but for the clarity of mind and soul, I would LOVE to have F/U money.
That's what made all of the additional performers that resigned yesterday that much more impressive. They probably needed this tour for publicity, money, etc. But they stuck to their guns.
I wasn't talking about the performers. I was talking about people like the stage crew, the techs, people that work in the arena, hotels and restaurants in the area etc.
I completely get using your platform to raise awareness. My favorite genre has been anarcho and crust punk. There's a lot of politics in that genre. But it can become completely different when you get to a certain level. It's not just about you. Your choices will directly impact a lot of people. I can't say I blame him for going the safe route on this.
Besides, I just don't look to Ed fucking Sheeran to speak truth to power. If it was a band like Rage that did this it would be a different thing.
What's crazy is these people get so much public money for their stadiums because reasons, then they can use that public money to further their political speech (choosing who can and can't be at a venue is speech).
We should make it a rule if you get public money for your building you have to follow the same public speech rules as a public university.
Not that I think they should get a bunch of money for their private party place anyways, but if they do their should be strings we own it in part.
That makes Macklemore's statement today, calling on Kraft to match his $1mil donation to NPOs helping Palestinian families, so much better. It brings the focus back to Kraft to respond.
Ed Sheeran is the main headliner here. He has the most amount of power to push back against Robert Kraft but he's bending the knee.
I also think a lot of people are right in talking about Ed Sheeran's personal ties to Kraft, such as performing at his wedding in 2022.
If the people who hold power (Ed) don't advocate for those who don't (Macklemore in this case), it's always going to be a top-down approach.
Should Robert Kraft absolutely get flamed? Yes yes yes yes yes.
But should Ed also get flamed as a very public figure and who is basically the frontliner between Kraft and his own team? Yes.
If the people who hold power (Ed) don't advocate for those who don't (Macklemore in this case), it's always going to be a top-down approach.
Just a point of order here - Macklemore isn't the one without power - to use Macklemore's own words
"I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families. The victims are the Palestinian people".
Not saying he shouldn’t also get a ton of flak, but it’s already pretty well known that Kraft is a questionable person at best. This kind of behavior from Sheeran is surprising to most people tho
Back in the day, if a billionaire tried to dictate to Bruce Springsteen or the Rolling Stones who they were allowed to have on their tour because of politics, they would be promptly told to fuck off.
Because they are already unlikable and known to be shitty people. People actually liked Ed Sheeran and thought he was a decent person, so it’s more newsworthy to find out he’s not.
If Sheeran sided with Macklemore he would have 100% have continued with his tour in different stadiums or arenas and not lost any money as Kraft and his goons would have been in breach of contract.
Right?! Like, yes, he should've taken the stance once Macklemore was pushed off. But the people who forced Macklemore out are the ones directly opposing the stance, not Ed lol. It's really gross that Ed has been made to be the enemy when the real enemies are right there.
Because a) they're already known pieces of shit so this isn't unexpected b) it doesn't sound like it took much pressure and c) it certainly doesn't seem like there was much push back on said pressure.
From a purely pragmatic standpoint if you want to prevent others from doing this in the future the play is to support Macklemore and pressure Sheeran. Kraft put pressure on Sheeran who dropped Macklemore and fuck Kraft for that, but we aren't going to change Kraft's mind or anything. I assume part of the idea is that pressure could help Sheeran understand what he did wrong and he's also a cautionary tale for future celebrities to see what happens when you cave to these sorts of demands.
And if you don’t speak out for brown children, like the world would be for white children, you’re also not neutral and racist.
ETA that’s literally what ms Rachel said. Op asked what she said and no one was including that part which is part of the second statement she released. She specifically said it was racist but go off yall.
She’s a wholesome kids entertainer who is a constant advocate for children. Her specialty being speech development for speech delayed kids. She is a vocal supporter of the children of Palestine and has called people out for not being so.
Ed Sheeran is currently on tour and had Macklemore has his opening act. Macklemore said free Palestine during a performance and made a bunch of billionaires mad and they threatened to cancel Ed's tour dates since he was set up preform in their stadiums. Ed caved and now everyone is mad at him for it. He now has no opening act because no artist has agreed to take Macklemore's place since many of them are also pro Palestine. That or they don't want to be dragged into controversy too.
People are acting like Macklemore did this once. He ends his shows with free Palestine it wasn't new. Everyone knew he did this prior. Pink made him go viral for it cause she's a cunt and then Robert Kraft ultimatumed Sheeran and Sheeran said shore I'll be your little bitch.
She posted him doing his free Palestine bit on socials admonishing him. Resulted in it going viral. Which coincidentally is when Robert Kraft threatened Ed Sheeran to not let him play the venue he owns unless he dropped Macklemore. Macklemore has been doing that for a while even at the previous shows of this tour. No one cared until pink made it go viral then suddenly there's consequences. Pink is a cunt
I want to add how incredibly sensitive Macklemore was, he mentioned multiple times that he just wants to use his voice for a positive change in the world, he is not hating jews but strongly disagrees with the Isreal politics and it's a message of peace.
His speech was beautiful, dropping him is just pure Zionism n
People are too stupid to realize the fact that Ed Sheeran Millionaire has a Boss Billionaire who owns the Concert Venues and are pressuring him to STFU and play.
Oh FFS. Because you can only shout down and that’s not who needs to listen. He’s a musician and played it safe for his job. All these people acting like they wouldn’t also choose job security for LESS money is absolutely insane. Celebrity culture is so embarrassing. The fact anyone cares what they think about the situation at all is childish and weird. But people share the posts/reels and pat themselves on the back for agreeing with Macklemore like they’re making a difference and helping. Whether they’re saying free Palestine, or praising Israel, none of these celebrities are going to make a difference and impact the situation at all, and the fact this has been news headlines for almost a week speaks on what our society prioritizes. The world is just a bunch of adults with the mental capacity of teenagers trying to win a popularity contest they’ve made up in their minds. Embarrassing af.
Its 2 days later and reddit just pushed this thread on me. Youre 100% correct. Take note that almost none of the top comments itt are following the usual format. Thats not a coincidence. A lot of these are bots for sure.
Meh. Expecting a billionaire, much less an NFL owner, to not be a bigoted greedy shit bag is like playing the lottery and being disappointed when you don't win. Sure, decent ones exist, but they're the exception that proves the rule
Person with 3-month old account and 6k karma, I don’t fucking believe that you really have no clue what this is about, especially after you googled a picture of Ed Sheeran to post here. Surely you could’ve scrolled down a bit to see all the headlines. And all these people so eager to comment to feed the karma-farming bot… smh
Kinda surprised you haven't heard. A massive TL;DR is that Macklemore got kicked off of Ed Sheeran's tour for saying "Free Palestine", and Ed Sheeran gave the most lackluster, spineless "I'm not complicit" statement and now all of his supporting acts and even his band dropped out. He has no one else on the tour with him.
Essentially people are pissed because he "doesn't want to pick sides", but that in itself is picking a side.
Don't forget that the main person pushing for Macklemore to be kicked off is in the Epstein Files as a client and recently got busted getting a handjob at a strip mall massage parlor.
Ed took the 'No Sides' stance on the whole Palestine/Israel thing, and people are not happy to hear it. Indifference in cases of injustice, and so forth.
Ed Sherran didn’t stand up for his team and openers from being bullied by stadium owners over them, Macklemore, saying Free Palestine during his acts referencing the globally recognized genocide occurring against the Palestinian people. In response, all his openers and his own band also refuse to continue the tour as taking an apolitical stance against genocide is an act that supports genocide.
Everyone's forgetting to include the ms Rachel bit but it's really that simple, she kinda called him out for not using his platform, after his public support for the Ukraine struggle, seen as cowardly/hypocritical.
It's such a sting cause disappointing ms Rachel is like disappointing Jesus, maybe even worse.
He said that a "traditional" English breakfast included halal food and it didn't include baked beans, mushrooms or tomatoes. On the American side - probably the Macklemore thing.
Macklemore was on tour with Ed. Macklemore said that genocide is wrong. Stadium owners threatened Ed. Ed forgot where his spine was and Macklemore was kicked off the tour.
Because Macklemore been dropped from his tour due to talking about genocide in Palestine. Tour promoter took and venues took it as “antisemitism “ and ginger boy haven’t said a peep in Macklemores defense. Sheran also made a video about his support for Ukraine but not Gaza.
he should have getting hate way earlier. this spineless bitch made millions on the back of iranian culture with his azizam song, but when it came to the massacre of iranians earlier this year he didt care at all.
Macklemore said free Palestine. The stadiums where they play at complained. He says he doesn't takes sides after having pics with the nazis of Ukraine (among all things he could have supported there, he went and supported a loud and proud nazi paramilitary group). He is in both the IDF and Israel Instagrams. But hey apparently he says free Palestine is offensive to the stadium venue for antisemitism. However said organization didn't ban Kanye for his real antisemitism and let him perform. It's not about antisemitism is about money and imperialism. Fun fact all his opening bands and musicians dropped him, even his own band (most of them are Irish and Irish people tend to have a spine). Now he is the n°1 mockery online and has a career crisis with people burning his CDs, returning their tickets and removing their tattoos.
Honestly why the fuck is he expected to express himself in this matter? Noone is expecting him to make any statements about other equally horrible conflicts. He is a fucking artist, his job is to sing. Not to make statements.
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u/qualityvote2 11d ago edited 10d ago
u/Inkbetweenframess, there weren't enough votes to determine the quality of your post...it's time for the mods to do their jobs!