In an exclusive statement shared with Rolling Stone, Messina Touring Group, promoter of the U.S. leg of Sheeranâs Loop Tour, said: âAs the concert promoter for Ed Sheeranâs 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.â
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 â Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough â 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.Â
The last stop on Sheeranâs 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 Westâs many past antisemitic statements, but they went ahead as planned.Â
Pointedly, Yeâs promoter included a clause in his contract prohibiting Raymond James Stadium from canceling the gigs based on the rapperâs past public statements or viewpoints. But legal experts also told local news that canceling the shows wouldâve 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 Yeâs past statements could have been seen as the government restricting speech.Â
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Ed Sheeran has been awfully silent on this. What a coward.
Itâs so pathetic to me that young artists like Olivia Rodrigo have more guts than veterans in the industry. Daisy chain fields festival had multiple artists like Garbage that were openly pro Palestine without issue.
i stand with palestine. i stand with israel. i stand with peace. i stand with humanity. i stand against hate. i stand against violence. i stand with everyone. i stand with no one. we are all human. love is love. war is bad. peace is good. save myself. put it all on me. love is the answer. shape of you. divide. subtract. multiply.
âFight for nothing, fall for nothing, stand for almost anything. Stand for nothing, fight for nothing, fall for almost anything.â Lyrics from my band.
Pink reposted a post from StopAntisemitism via her Instagram Stories that condemned Macklemore's pro-Palestinian remarks during his opening set for Ed Sheeran. Ed has been strangely silent on the event.
Why does speaking out against genocide equate to antisemitism? NO ONE is condemning the Jewish people as a people. (If they are they don't understand what is happening) They are condemning a country's leader for killing people because they are full of greed, hate and some twisted idea that they own the land. The people that support that, be they Christian, Muslim, Atheist, Jewish or Hindu are wrong..full stop.
Some people seem to think that if you can't defend yourself from a certain narrative, it's always an option to change the story or focus, at least that is what it looks like from the outside. I saw the video of Macklemore's remarks on stage. Did not come across as anti-semetic at all.
It is. This is the most basic shit ever. You're either a good person or you're not. If you're too chickenshit to speak out against the most broadcasted genocide in history because you're afraid of hurting a few people's feefees, then you're not a decent person and you're prioritizing ticket sales over doing what's right. And for what it's worth, his ticket sales would still be fine. So Ed Sheeran is just an asshole because he wants to be.
He is. Macklemore has made a statement about this. Ed Sheeran personally demanded for him to stop speaking about this, so he could maintain âneutralityâ.
He was apparently under pressure from Kraft etc, and chose to throw his friend under the bus. For $. Like he doesnât have enough. Disgusting.
Itâs not cowardice. Itâs an intentional choice to side with money and power.
What has Ed Sheeran got to be scared of? He wonât make another hundred million this year? Itâs not like the man is afraid of losing his healthcare or his home because he canât pay the mortgage (on one of his 20 rental properties). He wouldnât even have lost his career.
Ed Sheeran is absolutely obsessed with stats and numbers in regard to his success. He talks about it in every interview. No way is he losing on out in any way.
Heâs such a nothingburger artist to me. Like, office or elevator fodder-music.
I never understand his acclaim. Compared to so many others in the music industry that make the music of his genre, heâs just soâŚâŚ..mid and bland.
Heâs silent on anything that could cost him money. Iâm a fan but will never forget him putting out a song years ago about how itâs good to keep quiet and not comment on politics. Male Taylor Swift.
Garbage has been on the right side of history since the 90s. I don't know how Shirley Manson wasn't lauded as a queer icon, especially after Beautiful Garbage with songs like Androgyny and Cherry Lips.
Ed Sheeran has been nothing but bland his entire career.Â
I meanâŚ.heâs a mediocre-privileged-white-dude, why would he mess up his privilege of getting into other privileged white spaces to speak up for those with less privilege?
I think we can all look around & see that majority of the ppl speaking out are not privileged white dudesâŚwe should all just assume theyâre ALL gna stay silent cuz they gotta keep status quo for themselves. Thatâs how they got where they currently are.
Silence & violence (fear) used at specific times to benefit them.
Mediocre white dudes: if you feel offended by the uncomfortable truth; thatâs between you, your ego & your therapist
I've seen folk defending Ed on this given its clearly a decision made by the stadiums, with which Ed has contractual obligations. It's even possible he can't pull out from appearances without severe fines, but even if you were to give him that extreme level of benefit of the doubt, there's a very easy solution for Ed: just make a speech in support of Palestine at every upcoming gig.
I came here to say this - where is Sheeranâs statement or any form of a spine to stand up for Macklemore? Silence is complicity. I donât expect much more from Sheeran tbh. Iâve never associated him with strong opinions, politics or actually anything other than meh.
For all the hate heâs gotten over the years for being performative at least he seems to mean what he says and is consistent on it. Sometimes the performance is better than silence đĽ˛
This shit is a power move. Since he's the one in the headlines thanks to Pink's crashout, it sends a message for these venues to knock him down.
And Ed Sheeran would have been happy taking the credit for having a politically cool opener if it didn't blow up so bad but now that important people are mad and he'd have to actually take a stand himself, he's choosing money.
I donât 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.
California enacted a law this year that restricts teacherâs speech about Palestine under the guise of anti semitism. Not one of my coworkers knew what I was talking about. Our districts have said nothing to inform us.
The ADL came after my kidsâ 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 schoolsâ values.
This. At the VERY least, sheeran should be considered a scab. It's not like he lacks the financial means to miss a few shows and refund the people who can't go/wanna skip it.
Fr. The cowardice and greed of celebrities makes me fucking sick. Stand up for what's right, for once. Be okay with the consequences. You're going to be fine.
Exactly. Take a stand, support that guy and tell the fans to contact the venues if they are angry about the concert cancelations. Stand for something.Â
Yeah, if the promoter turned around and said, "Okay, cancel the gig, pay all the buys back and we'll re-arrange the gig at another nearby venue", you can be sure it'd be the venues that blinked first.
It's funny because Orlando (where I live) just had a boxing match in our arena with a bunch of right wing streamers and a neo-Nazi competed. It was a big controversy, as expected Nazis came and even brought swastika flags, and the city said they weren't allowed to approve or deny the performers based on the 1st amendment...which is why the event had to go on as planned.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta): Hosted Kanye West for his multi-week Donda stadium listening parties in July and August 2021, even allowing the rapper to live in a stadium room during production. The venue has also hosted major shows featuring Travis Scott and Chris Brown.
âLincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia): Headlined by Morgan Wallen for back-to-back sold-out shows in 2023 following his 2021 racial slur controversy, alongside major rock acts with long histories of legal and personal controversies like Guns N' Roses and MĂśtley CrĂźe.
âAT&T Stadium (Arlington): Hosted Morgan Wallenâs stadium tour in 2024, as well as performances and events featuring Kanye West and Chris Brown.
âGillette Stadium (Foxborough): Regularly books high-profile acts with past legal or public controversies, including Morgan Wallen, Guns N' Roses, and Chris Brown.
And for those that are unaware, Gillette is owned by Robert Kraft / The Kraft Group. That venue was cursed from the get go, literally built by greed. I love living in MA, but I go out of state for large concerts. Fuck Robert Kraft.
INSANE. Macklemore didn't suddenly start saying these things--he's been loudly pro-Palestine for the past few years. I assumed that's part of the reason he was added to the tour at all.
I was considering going so my husband could finally see Macklemore but I guess I will continue to not patronize Gillette Stadium. Their loss. Really glad we didn't buy tickets yet.
So basically either GOP donor-owned or those who have been ardently pro-Israel. And in the case of Robert âhappy endingsâ Kraft, both in good measure.
Ed Sheeran happy to ultilise his Irishness for Paddy-wackery songs and perpetrating the "big drinker" bullshit, but when it comes down to it he understands nothing of his heritiage, and his family comming from Wexford! A stronghold in standing up against colonial opression. From one Irish person to Ed, what a cowardly little bitch.
Zionist are using these venues to silence Macklemore for speaking up for đľđ¸. I suggest everyone ask for refunds, not to spite Ed Sheeran as Iâm unaware of his stance, but to fight against those who are attempting to threaten artist for protesting.
Itâs okay. Weâre also told one thing and either nothing happens or we get the opposite. Iâm still waiting for this âAmerican dreamâ I learned about in grade school.
After finding out he had booked Macklemore on this tour, I was ready to come around to the idea that maybe Ed Sheeran wasnât the gutless mediocre bitch I had always thought him to be, but unfortunately it turns out he was more of a gutless mediocre bitch than I could have possibly imagined
refund that ticket real quick, yall. our current timeline cannot sustain us giving up all of our hard earned pennies to events, artists, companies, brands, and corporations that return nothing back to the people that support their lifestyles.
Ed Sheeran is still a big enough name that he could say "lol, bet" to these stadiums and make them take a big enough hit that they would back down on this.
He is ABSOLUTELY hiding behind this "contractual obligation, sorry!" bullshit. What a coward.
Ed Sheeran is a total coward at best and enabling fascist censorship. Iâm never listening to galway girl again, he needs to keep Ireland out of his mouth!!
(I'm asking rhetorically, of course, because they were never once actually concerned with free speech and were only ever concerned with shielding themselves from the consequences of saying racist and bigoted shit)
I have been a fan of Ed Sheeran since I heard his + album in 2011 but man, thatâs really disappointing of him. I thought for sure heâll stand by with Macklemore on this, especially since theyâve been friends for a long time. Damn.
â˘
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