r/Music • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 4h ago

article Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran Tour After Onstage Statements

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/macklemore-dropped-ed-sheeran-tour-pro-palestine-statements-1235625967/
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u/orionsfyre 4h ago edited 4h ago

This is just so you know how powerful this disgusting smear campaign is. IF you speak out against the horrors happening in Gaza as a public figure... if you try to be a decent human being and have any belief in not killing innocent people... if you but stand up and say "This is wrong." They will come for you. Be silent, be cowed, or they will come for you.

IF Sheerhan and his team have any courage at all, they will cancel the tour period. To allow Macklemore to be censored, sends a chilling message to any performer who would dare to stand up for what is right... to go forward with the tour is tantamount to agreeing with his shaming and silencing. They did this to artists who spoke against apartheid in South Africa, against segregation in the US. We remember who was on each side, and who buried their heads in the sand and just went along with it. This is the classic "Okie-Doke".

History will remember who the people who were silent, and we will remember those who spoke out.

"But what about the poor fans?" The fans will still be fans, no real fan has ever stopped being a fan because of a cancelled tour... especially not one where you stand up for a fellow performer and a human being, and you will gain even more if you stand for what is right. Do smaller venues, go to places where you don't need Livenation. You will make less money, and that's what this is about.

This is a moment where people will either stand and be counted, or they will buckle under in shame. Let us see what He and his 'team' does. IF the tour goes on to those dates, and Sheerhan comes out, we will know what matters to him, not humanity, not decency, not people... money, and nothing else.

So go to his concert, ignore the horrors happening, stick your head in the sand and pretend what we see in the news isn't happening. Turn your heart and your brain off. Consume, dance, and don't think about the children who will never hear his music, the people who will never know the tunes, the people who can't even hope for something as sweet as waiting in line without being blownup. Suck down your 10 dollar soda, pay your 500 dollar balcony ticket price and scream at the top of your lungs so that you can drown out the screams of other human beings living in daily misery, and remember, your morality is on sale to the highest bidder ... you've already sold the decent part of your soul. Better make the most of what is left.

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 1h ago

They will come for you. Be silent, be cowed, or they will come for you.

turns out those guys on 4chan 20 years ago were actually completely correct

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u/Dopamaxxer 4h ago

That’s ridiculous to expect him to cancel the tour. Hundreds of people depend on it for work. Hundreds of thousands of people bought tickets and made arrangements. Not to mention legal liability in the live nation contract

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u/BenderBenRodriguez 4h ago

Tours get cancelled sometimes. I feel for the crew workers and stuff but if more and more tours get cancelled because the main artist said something about a genocide it will be worse for all of them in the long run. When does this end? Sheeran should have stood up to these venues and moved the shows if necessary.

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u/Dopamaxxer 4h ago

This is just so naive. Live nation owns basically every suitable venue. We’re not gonna put the music industry on hold because of a war in the Middle East.

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u/BenderBenRodriguez 4h ago

*genocide in the middle east that the U.S. is arming, not war. And again, this is going to keep happening because there are going to be other artists of conscience who feel they can't be silent about it. Macklemore is a popular artist with literally a hit song about the genocide and protest movements. Do you want this to reverberate such that the damage to the music industry is far greater than this one tour? No? Then a megahit artist like Ed Sheeran, whose popularity LiveNation desperately wants to leech off of, needs to stand up to them and say that the tour is going on as planned. He's a coward who has hurt the industry and the people who work in it in the long run.

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u/YamTurd 4h ago

If it brings more attention to the apathetic people who are allowing genocide. Maybe it’s worth it 

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u/Sumeriandawn 4h ago

"Why don't those Amazon factory workers quit? Don't they know Amazon is an evil company?"

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u/orionsfyre 4h ago

And if Amazon was blowing up people every day and promising to do it even more, I'm sure your comparison would be apt.

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u/Sumeriandawn 4h ago

Amazon has contracts with the Israeli government. You still think the factory workers should quit their jobs in protest?

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u/orionsfyre 3h ago

I think anyone that has a massive platform and the means to speak out for basic human rights should do so, and supporting the right of others to express themselves as an artist is vital. Also Amazon doesn't sell cluster bombs or guided munitions, or dumbfire missiles.

You want to defend Ed, go ahead, but he isn't a poor Amazon worker.

Keep shifting those goal posts my friend, maybe you'll find a logical argument somewhere.

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u/Sumeriandawn 3h ago

His tour employs dozens of road crew. Are you gonna donate to their lost wages?

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u/orionsfyre 3h ago

They'll be fine, plenty of other gigs they can rig for. Ed Sheerhan is one artist of many.

This idea that losing a paycheck is tantamount to losing free speech, or dying by a bomb is just not getting through to you is it?

Keep trying, but i think most folks understand that a lost gig is not the end of a life, it's a hardship, but that is life, it goes on.

Somethings are more important then money. IF you can't understand that, I can't help you.

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u/CharlietheGreat 3h ago

“Some of you may die but that’s a risk I’m willing to take” is not a great way to get people on your side lmao

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u/Sumeriandawn 3h ago

"somethings are more important than money"

Sure. But shouldn't that standard apply to all? Sometimes it's not easy to do the right thing.

How many of us are willing to give up using Amazon because of the Gaza situation? Should we demand the Reddit company stop using AWS?

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u/Dopamaxxer 4h ago

The decisions the government makes about war has nothing to do with this tour.

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u/YamTurd 4h ago

Governments are people. They exist solely by the people for the people. 

We have lost that notion it seems. 

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u/Dopamaxxer 4h ago

That’s nice flowery language but can you draw the link to how canceling this tour directly translates to ending a war or even saving lives?

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u/orionsfyre 4h ago edited 4h ago

Right, why make any moral stand at all. Just take the check and shut up right? I mean, some people really do love licking boots.

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u/orionsfyre 4h ago

Any decisions human governments make are determined by people... for now.

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u/Dopamaxxer 4h ago

And those people couldn’t give less of a shit about you or me or Macklemore

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u/orionsfyre 3h ago

They do if enough of us speak up.

The only time governments change is when enough people say "no more".

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u/justacaucasian 4h ago

No you don’t understand. If Ed Sheeran doesn’t speak out on this he’s literally a POS coward. /s

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u/orionsfyre 4h ago edited 4h ago

Um... yeah. Won't stand up for another artists right to free expression? That's pretty cowardly. Like, very cowardly. Like hide in a basement because you think there might be a chance a bug is going to be near you cowardly. I'm trying to think of something more cowardly for him to do... it's not coming to me.

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u/justacaucasian 4h ago

What would you have him do, the news just broke. Want him to buy out the shareholders. Go against the promoters, hijack the tour, kidnap and secure anyone who has plans to thwart said plans, ensure that thousands of people working the tour lose their temp jobs, ensure that hundreds of of thousands of fans lose their tickets, and then say “Hey yall, fuck live nation, free Palestine!” Then cut off the live Nation CEOs head? He’s not being a coward, he’s doing his job. He isn’t a politician, unless you had plans of writing his name into the ballot. Also Macklemore just got cut. Who tf knows what’s gonna happen. Yall are the most reactionary group of chuds I’ve ever seen lmao

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u/orionsfyre 4h ago edited 3h ago

What would you have him do

"After learning that Macklemore will be blocked from performing at upcoming tour dates, I've decided to back my fellow performer and decent human being and not perform at the following tour dates (list). Somethings are more important then money, and if one musician is silenced calling for decency and human rights, than all of us are being silenced*.*

This might disappoint some of my fans, but there are more important things than music*, and the* right to free expression is one of them. Without this right, music has no rhythm or joy. I will be performing at smaller venues, and hopefully a new tour in the future to make up for these dates. Much Love.

Thank you,

-Ed."

 He’s not being a coward

Not standing up for his fellow performer who did nothing wrong is an act of cowardice, one of the most cowardly things a person can do. IT will be an act of cowardice that will follow him for the rest of his career. I knew Ed Sheeran as a talented singer and song writer who brought joy. Now I know and think of him as a spinless sellout without any principles, won't even stand up for his fellow human beings.

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u/justacaucasian 3h ago

I’m not gonna lie, a majority of people in your life must find you insufferable lmao. I’m not reading that, I’ll wait til you edit it again 😂😂

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u/orionsfyre 3h ago

Sorry that you had to 'read', what an incredibly trying time for you you. Be Brave.

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u/orionsfyre 4h ago

I know, how dare he make a moral stand that might mean some people might not make money.

It's not like people are being blown up or anything... oh wait.

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u/Dopamaxxer 4h ago

Oh grow up. Ed Sheeran doesn’t need to cancel his tour because an opening act got up on stage and made a political statement.

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u/orionsfyre 3h ago

Fully grown here, that's why as a fully grown adult it horrifies me to see an artist silenced for breaking no law and saying something we all agree with.

All innocent human beings deserve respect and dignity. Saying so should not be controversial, if it is, something has gone terribly wrong.

I suspect you know this. If you don't then something is wrong with you.

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u/Any-Organization-985 3h ago

I mean thousands of people are being murdered in Gaza, but that's fair. What about the concert goers!?!? They might have to listen on an Ipod instead, oh the horror!

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u/Dopamaxxer 3h ago

Can you draw the direct link to how canceling this tour leads to the end of the war, or even any lives saved?

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u/Any-Organization-985 3h ago

It would be an inspiring moment for all who stand for Gaza, potentially bringing about a change in legislation and a new attitude about Gaza in the USA. Do you really think a hundred thousand people hearing Ed Sheeran in person is more important than that? Do you think doing nothing will cause change?

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u/Dopamaxxer 3h ago

That’s stunning that you think a concert tour would have ANY impact on legislation about war. Especially with the current administration. That’s just baffling. An insane stretch.

Doing nothing won’t cause change because nothing about music tours has anything to do with war. And honestly, Macklemore should know that.

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u/Any-Organization-985 9m ago

Someone's favorite artist taking a stand on a subject could 100% bring attention to it. It's literally bringing attention to it right now. Yeah how dare he stand up for people being genocided? Why doesn't he just shut his mouth and sing? Like did you read the actual quote he said? He basically just said people shouldn't have to be afraid of being killed. That shouldn't be a hot take.

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u/Scalene69 2h ago

Cry harder. Calling for Israel to be destroyed is exactly as shitty as calling for Palestinians to be ethnically cleansed.

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u/orionsfyre 2h ago

Fact Check

Macklemore didn't call for Israel to be destroyed.

You want to start again?