Ed Sheeran ProfileAs the controversy surrounding Ed Sheeran's removal of Macklemore from his current US tour continues, a number of musicians around the world have weighed in on the situation, asserting their solidarity with the US rapper and the Palestinian people.
Earlier this week, Macklemore announced that, as a result of pro-Palestinian statements he had made on stage earlier this month, he had been removed from Sheeran's US tour.
Having played just two of eight scheduled dates, Macklemore explained that Sheeran was contacted by US businessman Robert Kraft – whose company the Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium, where the rapper was scheduled to support Sheeran on September 25th and 26th – and provided an ultimatum of either removing Macklemore from the shows, or not playing the venue.
Sheeran later weighed in, denying Macklemore's characterisation of his "typical apolitical stance" and claiming that while he is "appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine", it was ultimately the "promoters and venues" that were to blame for the removal of Macklemore.
Despite this, all of the acts involved in the tour – including Sheeran's backing band Beoga, and other openers Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, and FINNEAS – all announced they would be dropping out of the forthcoming dates.
"Money doesn't give you the right to own the conversation," said Danish duo Lukas Graham. "Nobody's bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we're allowed to acknowledge."
Numerous acts have now come forward to put their support behind Macklemore and his pro-Palestinian statements.
While Irish outfit Kneecap – who had themselves faced backlash after bringing their own support of Palestine to the Coachella festival last year – expressed "all love and solidarity" toward Macklemore, Massive Attack also weighed in, weeks after bringing their own politically-motivated music around Australia.
"Entertainment can never be bigger than resisting the apartheid & genocide of fellow human beings," they wrote on social media. "'Neutrality' in the face of the slaughter of more than 20,000 children can never be neutrality. No artist should tolerate the censorship of another artist, however many millions of dollars are in play.
"The arc of state, corporate & media silence that allowed a genocide to take place seeks to coerce high profile artists & actors into that silence.
"We stand in solidarity with all artists risking their careers in defence of the nights of the Palestinian people, & against the illegal occupation, apartheid, war crimes & ongoing genocide perpetrated by the State of Israel," they added. "Free Palestine."
So too did Garbage share a lengthy message in support of Macklemore's message, pointing out that "nothing [he] actually said was violent or hateful or remotely radical."
"Those who exile, silence and censor others are never the good guys. No matter what you tell yourself," their message read in part. "Just because you ignore the truth doesn’t make the truth go away or make it any less potent.
"Macklemore’s words were not antisemitic yet he is being punished for simply pleading for the occupation, the oppression and the violence to stop. Whatever happened to free speech?"
They followed it up with another, more formal message, this time making it clear they believed the only victim in this scenario is the Palestinian people.
"We are witnessing one of the biggest artists in the world being cancelled because they tried to 'both sides' Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people," the band shared. "This is a clear and undeniable sign that the global consciousness has shifted.
"The normalisation of an apartheid state, and the attempts to sanitise or justify its actions, will no longer be tolerated. Every artist dropping out of the tour, and every fan cancelling their ticket, is choosing to stand with their conscience rather than participate in complicity with apartheid and genocide."
Former Pink Floyd bassist and vocalist Roger Waters – himself a historically-outspoken supporter of Palestine – shared a video to social media in which he addressed Sheeran directly following a brief snippet of a cover of We Shall Overcome.
"I just have a little message for you," he began. "There’s two kinds of people in this world.
"There’s people who do the right thing, that rapper Macklemore would be one of those people, and there’s people, many of them sadly little f… — excuse me, I nearly used the F-word then — pricks like you who do the wrong thing.”
In the wake of everything that has happened since his removal, Macklemore took to social media earlier today to announce he would be donating the entire $1 million of his net earnings from Sheeran's tour to a number of organisations supporting Palestinian people – urging Robert Kraft to do the same.
"Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting," Macklemore stated. "A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth."
"Writing a check is one of the least costly forms of solidarity available to me," he added. "I am doing it because I can, and because these organizations are doing the work while much of the world debates it."
Kraft would later release his own statement via the Gillette Stadium's X (formerly Twitter) account, claiming that he believes "deeply that all lives are worth protecting".
"Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis," Kraft stated. "Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.
"In addition, I'd like the people who are speaking in support of the Palestinian people to know that for decades, I have supported efforts that create opportunity for Palestinians and have brought young Palestinians and Israelis together to build businesses, create jobs, and forge relationships."
Alongside the controversy, some social media users have pointed out an ill-timed promotion by Guitar Center which launched this week, giving fans a chance to serve as the opening act for Sheeran at his upcoming Mexico City concert in December.
Much of the attention is being placed on the fact that entries for the competition close on October 7th – the third anniversary of the attacks which began the ongoing Gaza war.
Sheeran's US tour is presently scheduled to resume on September 19th, and while his official website still lists all the previously-planned supports (sans Macklemore), it remains to be seen how the upcoming dates will proceed.
