Ed Sheeran and Macklemore Controversy

Infamous singer, Ed Sheeran, has recently been caught in controversy regarding his decision to remove Macklemore from his most recent tour. While Ed Sheeran was performing in New Jersey for his ‘Loop Tour’ on September 4th, Macklemore played his hit song, “Thrift Shop,” as a supporting act. However, during this act, Macklemore started voicing his support for human rights regarding Palestine and their conflict with Israel. This created mixed reactions from fans and other artists. The most notable being Pink, who received backlash for criticizing his speech and posting an anti-Macklemore meme on social media. Since then, Ed Sheeran has removed Macklemore from the tour all together, which also received massive backlash as a result.

When Macklemore went up on stage for his opening number at the tour, he voiced, “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so that I could stand up on stadiums like this and say two words that are very, very dear to my heart: Free Palestine.” He also performed a song dedicated to pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University. The following night, referred to the death toll as genocide. The Cosmopolitan article stated that

he has been dropped from the tour altogether after a petition for his removal surfaced.

While being in Philadelphia for his tour, Sheeran reportedly spent almost four minutes addressing the controversy at the start of the show and the mistakes he made while handling the entire situation. According to BBC, Ed Sheeran said, “I have tried during my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division; about humanity, not politics. But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore.” However, he also made it known that the decision to remove Macklemore’s was the promoter’s decision, and not his own.

Conversations about artists being refused their right to speak up about political matters have resurfaced. Finneas, who was supposed to open the Latin American leg of the Loop Tour, he withdrew from Ed Sheeran’s tour. According to Cosmopolitan's article, Finneas stated, “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”

Image Courtesy of Number 10 on Wikimedia Commons.