Ed Sheeran blames US tour promoter for dropping Macklemore

Pop star Ed Sheeran has blamed the promoter of his United States tour for dropping Macklemore after the rapper voiced support for Palestine.

In a series of six slides on an Instagram post, Sheeran on Tuesday said it was important to “set out some facts”.

The decision to remove Macklemore from the US Loop Tour, Sheeran said, came after venues said they would pull future shows if they included Macklemore. The rapper, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, drew criticism after making “Free Palestine” and other pro-Palestine comments while on tour with Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month.

“I was informed that this stance was based on how Macklemore conveyed part of this message during his performance, rather than on everything that was said,” Sheeran wrote. “I spoke with the venues at length all week to try and build a bridge.”

Some musical artists, including supporting acts, said later on Tuesday that they were quitting Sheeran’s tour after Macklemore’s ouster. They included Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, Irish band Beoga, Danish band Lukas Graham and musician Finneas. They voiced support for Macklemore and expressed solidarity with Palestinians.

Robert Kraft, the owner of the National Football League’s New England Patriots, confirmed he pressured Sheeran to drop Macklemore from the tour. The billionaire said Macklemore was barred from appearing at the team’s Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts during a performance later this month due to what he described as a “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery”.

In an Instagram post, Macklemore said Sheeran told him Kraft had organised a boycott among other stadium owners unless he was thrown off the tour for his pro-Palestine remarks.

“I told him that if those words were more offensive than the tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood,” Macklemore said of his conversation with Sheeran.

‘I am not complicit’

Sheeran said the decision to boot Macklemore off the tour was the promoter’s, not his. The British musician added that he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine”.

“I am not complicit. I have my personal views on the devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care. Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own, personal way,” Sheeran said.

Kraft, in a statement to Al Jazeera, said the decision to ban Macklemore from his venue wasn’t about “diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians” but argued “advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas”.

Macklemore, who described Sheeran as a close friend, said the two artists had discussed the issue over the past week.

“He couldn’t get past his public-facing, ‘I don’t take sides,’” Macklemore wrote, referring to Sheeran’s reluctance to take a public stance on Israel’s war on Gaza.

Sheeran explained why he doesn’t use his “professional platform for politics”, writing that audiences who attend his shows “do not expect a political forum”.

“I respect Macklemore’s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes,” Sheeran said. “However, there is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace. I choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed.”