“I just have a little message for you: there are two kinds of people in this world, Ed. There’re people who do the right thing—the rapper Macklemore would be one of those people. And there’re people—many of them, sadly little f ... excuse me, I nearly used the F-word then ... pricks—like you who do the wrong thing!”
So said Roger Waters, former Pink Floyd frontman and long-term supporter of the Palestinian people, via social media to singer Ed Sheeran, who has just committed a generational flop.
Bowing to the pressure of billionaires in a bid to stay “neutral”, Sheeran recently dropped rapper Macklemore from his Loop tour due to Macklemore’s pro-Palestine stance. In solidarity with Macklemore, all of the supporting artists, including Ed’s own band, dropped out of the tour.
The controversy began when billionaire New England Patriots stadium owner Robert Kraft phoned Sheeran with a clear demand: Macklemore would be removed from the show, or the show would not go on.
Macklemore drew the ire of Kraft after declaring his support for Palestine and performing his song “Hind’s Hall” at a concert at MetLife Stadium. “Hind’s Hall” was written when the campus encampments in solidarity with Gaza were at their height in the US. It is a tribute to 5-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed along with five family members and two paramedics by the Israeli military in January 2024 while fleeing Gaza City. Hind survived an initial attack on the family’s car, after which she spent hours on the phone to the Red Crescent, begging for help. Her body, and the remains of the paramedics sent to rescue her, were found weeks later, along with the car the family had been travelling in, which had been shot at more than 300 times.
With the words “Free Palestine” emblazoned behind him, Macklemore told the MetLife audience:
“The truth is, a big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I can stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine. I want those words to be loud and clear so the people all the way in Gaza, to the occupied West Bank, know that we have not forgotten about them.”
After the performance, singer P!NK criticised Macklemore on social media, reposting a meme that attacked the rapper for his pro-Palestine stance. In response, a group of stadium owners banded together to cancel Macklemore. Their ownership of stadiums across the US gave them a power that most of us don’t have—to decide who gets to say what and where.
Macklemore has used his music to highlight questions of oppression for decades. His 2012 hit “Same Love” was a declaration of support for marriage equality when same-sex marriage was banned in most of the world, including the United States and Australia. During the marriage-equality plebiscite in Australia, Macklemore performed at the NRL grand final, in what was seen as an implicit endorsement of equality. Macklemore has also been openly proclaiming his support for Gaza and the Palestinian people throughout the last three years of Israeli genocide.
In the last few years, many artists have been attacked for their support for Palestine. Irish rap group Kneecap were dragged through the courts on trumped-up terrorism-related charges due to their support for Palestine. The rap duo Bob Vylan was attacked by the media and cancelled from tours, and had their US visas cancelled, for chanting “Death to the IDF” at the Glastonbury festival.
As with Kneecap and Bob Vylan, Macklemore’s stance has drawn support from other decent musicians and celebrities who also oppose genocide. Finneas, the brother of Billie Elish, was also an act on the Loop tour and pulled out in solidarity. His post declaring “Artists must not be silenced when they speak for the oppressed ... I stand with Palestine and its people” has more than 2 million likes on Instagram. Sheeran, on the other hand, has been left without support acts, without a backing band, and with just one ageing billionaire stadium-owner willing to associate with him. And Boy George.
Sheeran has also been exposed as having no spine and limited brains. The singer’s pathetic post responding to the controversy emphasised his desire to be “apolitical” and his concern not to corrupt the youth: “There is a reason I don’t use my professional platform for politics—my audience includes young people”. Someone should tell Sheeran that young people are affected by politics, particularly Palestinian children like Hind Rajab, and frequently don’t have the luxury of staying out of politics.
Sheeran’s statement goes on: “If we focus on shouting the loudest, nothing will ever change”. In this case, the people who are shouting the loudest, and have the biggest platforms, are those aiding a genocide: the Western governments, the militaries they command, the mainstream media outlets, the billionaires and corporations who benefit from Western domination of the Middle East. The Palestinians are systematically denied a voice. Those who value human rights and can speak freely have a responsibility to raise theirs. Macklemore is such a voice. In his ham-fisted effort to remain “neutral”, Sheeran is siding with the oppressors.
One performer whose audience is almost exclusively children, Ms Rachel, sums it up well:
“Ed Sheeran had an opportunity [to] show that we won’t be bullied into punishing people for supporting Palestine. Instead, he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows. A genocide is happening in Gaza. We all need to speak out against it.”
