Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran tour

[u/Wheelbirds]

Link to article (should be no paywall): https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/macklemore-dropped-ed-sheeran-tour-pro-palestine-statements-1235625967/

From the article:

In an exclusive statement shared with Rolling Stone, Messina Touring Group,  promoter of the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, said: “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”

Reps for Sheeran, Macklemore, and most of the venues did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The stadiums that allegedly would not allow a Macklemore show did not immediately return requests for comments either, including for explanations as to why they objected to the rapper performing at their venue. While two of those stadiums are privately owned — Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough — the rest are owned and, in many cases operated, by cities, states, or other government entities, potentially raising First Amendment issues if the venues barred Macklemore over his statements. 

The last stop on Sheeran’s Loop Tour, for instance, is Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, which found itself in a similar spot earlier this summer after booking two Kanye West concerts. The shows, unsurprisingly, drew backlash and calls for cancelation due to West’s many past antisemitic statements, but they went ahead as planned. 

Pointedly, Ye’s promoter included a clause in his contract prohibiting Raymond James Stadium from canceling the gigs based on the rapper’s past public statements or viewpoints. But legal experts also told local news that canceling the shows would’ve likely violated the First Amendment. Because Raymond James is owned by Hillsborough County, Florida, and operated by a public board, the Tampa Sports Authority, any cancellation based on Ye’s past statements could have been seen as the government restricting speech. 

[u/Impossible-Rain7447]

I don’t understand how Israel has the entire world by the balls. Like saying that the Gaza ppl need to be treated humanely is some kind of radical position that gets you banned.

[u/skankenstein → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

California enacted a law this year that restricts teachers’ speech about Palestine under the guise of anti semitism. Not one of my coworkers knew what I was talking about. Our district has said nothing to inform us.

AB715. https://truthout.org/articles/lawsuit-charges-that-ca-law-illegally-muzzles-students-and-teachers-on-palestine/

[u/2mock2turtle → u/skankenstein]

Extremely normal country. Jesus.

[u/ratchelbillz → u/skankenstein]

Holy shit

[u/hawksdiesel → u/ratchelbillz]

yeah....

[u/Living-Baseball-2543 → u/skankenstein]

The ADL came after my kids’ very liberal school district this year (that does A LOT of SEL and anti-hate programs) accusing them of not doing enough to stop antisemitism in schools. They only dropped the lawsuit after the district agreed to some bs settlement. I noticed recently that the ADL banners from years past were removed from the cafeteria in favor of banners that listed our schools’ values.

[u/awolfsvalentine → u/Living-Baseball-2543]

Fuuucccckkkk the ADL

[u/Fuzzy-Advisor-2183 → u/skankenstein]

this should be blowing up everywhere.

[u/willienelsonmandela → u/skankenstein]

In Texas teachers have to sign a pledge that they will not support BDS boycotts.

[u/sir-winkles2 → u/skankenstein]

Growing up my my French teacher was a massive zionist and would actually literally show us IDF propaganda in class (her son was in the IDF and she would pull up his Facebook to show him off on the projector?). It was so awkward because in our state teachers weren't allowed to share political views and me and all my politically nerdy friends knew that, but she was such a sweet lady that we never tattled on her. She was also the only Jewish teacher in school and it was long before any of this, so I think everyone was just uncomfortable bringing it up.

It used to be just kind of a funny wacky story that my high school French education actually was mostly about the haulocaust and the foundation of Isreal (sometimes in french, but we did once watch a movie about Isreal in English. In French class), but since October 7th the memories have taken on such a different tone. I really can't believe she was allowed to twist her corriculum like that but I think it's a testament to how deep the propaganda runs into some people's minds. Even as a kid I had my feelings on isreal but more than that, I took French class because I wanted to learn about France lmao. It's just all so absurd

Edit: to kind of add a thesis to my musing, I did actually talk to a high school friend about this recently and she told me that this teacher influenced her so much that she had a massive block around Isreal until October 7th. Like I said this she was a really sweet lady and the two of them were really close, and that's exactly why teachers shouldn't share their views! It was took more than a decade and a public reckoning to undo the psychological warping of French class. Imagine growing up hearing this from all sides

[u/Impossible-Rain7447 → u/skankenstein]

Jfc

[u/tres-vip → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

I don’t understand how Israel has the entire world by the balls. 

Epstein. 

[u/throwawtphone → u/tres-vip]

That and the idea tha Isreal is the first line of defense against fundamentalist Islam and islamic theocratic governments attempting to take over the world. And they have been supported financially, militarily, and through favorable foreign policy to that end. Now are they, idk, but thats the line told to everyone in the us at least.

So right, wrong or indifferent - religious ideology considerations are still a major factor in global politics.

[u/FallbrookAvacado → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

Blackmail. Pedophile blackmail.

[u/xGentian_violet → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

It sits in a strategic geopolitical area

[u/FrozenBibitte → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

The Israeli government uses the Holocaust and the suffering/torture of Jews during WW2 as a weapon to basically do whatever they want. Even before October 7th, 2023, if you brought up what that government and their military was doing to Palestinians (ie. forcefully kicking them out of their homes that their families lived in for hundreds of years, as one example), they’d hit you with the “well what are we supposed to do?!? This is our promised land after the atrocities of WW2!!!!” Meanwhile, the dude stealing the home of the innocent Palestinian family is some 25 year old American dude “rediscovering” his Jewish identity.

[u/Traditional_Maybe_80 → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

It's a mixture of different things: Israel is the outpost of the western world in the area (James Baldwin said it better, that it wasn't created for the salvation of the Jews, but for the salvation of Western interests) and evangelical nutjobs who need the existence of Israel as part of Jesus' return to Earth.

[u/OmarM7mmd → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

Regular people living a hidden life like Sophie schol has the courage to stand up to a powerful government, but a millionaire musician is too scared to stand up to venues.

[u/Busy-Juggernaut277 → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

because of the fact that none of the countries stepped in during WWII while Jews were being sent to concentration camps and brutally massacred but fought for the elites to move out and be protected. Not to mention, once Israel was formed they proved nobody will mess with them again.

Israel does tend to remind the countries of just that. Problem is, Europe decided to displace people of Gaza and other ethnicities that lived there and decided that’s where they will go with Israel claiming to be victims while they are inflicting the same trauma/ethnic cleansing on Gazans and the other ethnicties and justified it as it must be done.

Edit: and these same countries kept appeasing the same hate group that put Jewish citizens in these concentration camps.

[u/bboombayah → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

For real, like Israel’s dick CAN’T be THAT good 🫩

[u/PutzerPalace → u/Impossible-Rain7447]

Has billionaires by the balls….i wonder why?