Ed Sheeran commented on the decision to exclude Macklemore from opening the remaining concerts of his Loop Tour following the rapper’s comments on stage in support of a Palestinian state.
The 35-year-old singer took to Instagram to share a statement on Tuesday, saying: “I am appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The suffering and pain inflicted on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars in the world causing immeasurable pain, none of which should be tolerated. Macklemore asked to join my tour last year and I agreed because I respect him as an artist. Like all of my opening acts, I I agree that they play a set list of their choice.”
Sheeran said that after Macklemore performed at his New Jersey concerts, venues hosting his upcoming tour “informed that they would cancel the shows if he still supported.”
“I was advised that this position was based on how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during the performance and not on everything that was said. I spoke with venue representatives all week to try to build a bridge. One of those people was Robert Kraft. I also participated in direct negotiations with the promoters, along with activists on both sides, to try to find a common solution for everyone, but the decision of the venue and promoter was final,” Sheeran said in a statement.
“Macklemore’s decision to pull out of the tour was the promoter’s decision, not mine. Macklemore’s tour contract was with the promoter, not me,” Sheeran added.
“I would never let down the fans who made plans, nor would I give up on the touring crew and other supporting acts and musicians who rely on me to work and make a living,” Sheeran wrote. “I have always used my platform and music to bring people of all walks of life and cultures together, and that will never change.”
“I am not involved in this destructive conflict. I have my own personal views on this destructive conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly does not mean that I do not have them, and it does not mean that I do not care. It also does not mean that I do not support these causes in my own way, personally,” he said Your form The singer’s performance continued.
“There’s a reason I don’t use my professional platform for politics – my audience includes young people, often children, from all backgrounds. Those who come to my shows don’t expect a political forum,” Sheeran wrote.
“I respect McLemore’s dedication to standing up and shouting about what he believes in. However, there is room for many approaches to the same goal: peace. I choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and refuge, to support diplomacy and to keep conversations open rather than closed. If we only focus on shouting as loud as possible, nothing will ever change. There are different approaches to being an advocate for change.
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“I have spent this week trying to build bridges, to find a solution, and unfortunately I have not been able to do so. I know who I am, both as a person and as an artist, and those who know my heart know my values,” Sheeran’s statement concluded.
Sheeran’s statement comes a day after his tour promoter released a statement to Rolling Stone claiming that venues on the US tour told the company they “would not allow a concert with Macklemore in the lineup.”
“As the concert promoter of Ed Sheeran’s US Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues of the upcoming US tour dates that they will not allow a concert with Macklemore in the lineup, which will result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. Following discussions with interested parties, Macklemore will not perform on the remaining support days,” Messina Touring Group, promoter of the US leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, told the publication.
On Monday, McLemore shared his own statement announcing he had been dropped from the tour and said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, said he “will not be allowed to perform at his stadium.”
“Ed also told me that Kraft rallied some other stadium owners and together they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on tour, you will not be allowed to play at our venues,” Macklemore wrote.
Global News reached out to Kraft representatives for additional comment but did not receive a response.
“At this point, I think it matters. I’m not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, security and an audience around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we can go home to our families,” he said. Commission shop the rapper wrote.
“The victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who were killed, starved, were displaced and forced to live in conditions of unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children were killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as we tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that,” McLemore continued.
Can’t hold us back The rapper said Sheeran, who he said is like a “brother” to him, was “on a roll.”
“He knew this. His typically apolitical stance was being questioned in a way that had never been done before. He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were offensive to many of the people he spoke to. I told him that if those words were more offensive than the tens of thousands of Palestinian children killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental gap between where these people stood and where I stood. But he could not escape his public statement: “I don’t take sides.” McLemore wrote.
McLemore said he hopes this isn’t “the end of my relationship with Ed.”
“Thirteen years of friendship will not disappear because of one painful disagreement. I hope that we will both continue to listen, study what is happening in Palestine, and grapple with what neutrality means in a moment like this. My door will always be open to continue this conversation,” he added.
The 43-year-old rapper said he doesn’t need 10 performances from Sheeran.
“I needed 2.2 chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say. Free Palestine. But if those words cost me the stage and the conversation came back to Palestine, then this was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on,” Macklemore wrote.
Macklemore first faced backlash for his onstage comments during his Sept. 4 performance at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, where he said “Free Palestine” before performing his protest song. Hinds Hall, about pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Colombia.
“To all my Jewish brothers and sisters: criticizing Israel, criticizing apartheid, speaking out against genocide is in no way a criticism of you,” he said in his speech. “My message is for peace; love for all people who should be treated with dignity, respect and equality. So I say free Palestine, I say free Lebanon, I say free Cuba, I say free Congo, free Sudan, free all the people in America living in fear of this terrorist organization ICE. None of us will be free until we are all free.”
Following Macklemore’s comments, the Israeli American Council launched a petition calling for Sheeran to be removed from the tour.
“This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, not an activist event. The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The issue is where to draw the line when an opening act uses a global concert platform to promote a one-sided political agenda,” the petition reads.