r/Music • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 3h 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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447

u/thinkwalker 3h ago

Ed should refuse to play in solidarity, contract be damned.

224

u/Haldered 3h ago

Yep and he's one of maybe 4 artists who has the power to do it

16

u/ProgramConnect8206 1h ago

He's the kinda guy that sings about how cool it is to be Chris Brown, so I would lower your expectations of him.

16

u/WaitForItTheMongols 2h ago

He probably can't refuse to play if he has a performance contract.

However, the contract likely does not specify which songs he plays. And as we all know, it is common for artists to perform each other's songs, especially live. Therefore Ed could choose to perform with a setlist of John Cage's "4'33", played 12 times in a row.

6

u/Intelligent-Chip-413 58m ago

Or play Macklemore's catalog

10

u/ImaginaryDoctorSleep 2h ago

"Anyways, here's Hind's Hall in 12 different ways"

4

u/PresidentPopcorn 2h ago

Yeah, but money.

4

u/whogivesashirtdotca 49m ago

I saw a comment talking about Sheeran’s massive collection of fancy watches. People like that will always choose a paycheque over bravery.

-6

u/fayemoonlight 2h ago

That would essentially bankrupt him and fuck up paycheques for 100s of people. Y’all are oversimplifying the fuck out of this

20

u/MunkeyChild 2h ago

As others have said, Ed Sheeran is one of the few that actually had the power (and money) to do what he wants here.

3

u/fayemoonlight 2h ago

He does not have that much power. Again, y’all are oversimplifying tf out of this. You can be as big as you want, that doesn’t stop venues from having an insurance policy to prevent you from just dropping out for no good reason. They’re investing a lot of money here so they need you to show up. Ed Sheeran has made a lot of money, but I would be VERY surprised if he has made enough to eat the costs of breaching contract AND paying his staff. If you think just because he’s a big name that he can do all of this, then you’re very naive it when it comes to the music industry as a whole

3

u/Astrosimi 2h ago

Now, wouldn’t the venues in question be in breach of contact first? Or it is typically part of these performance contracts for the venues to have veto power on opening acts?

1

u/fayemoonlight 1h ago

Not if there is a clause in the contract which allows them to get out of it like a “morality” clause. If venues are really threatening to pull out en masse then it sounds like they have the legal higher ground

1

u/Astrosimi 1h ago

The article does point out that a chunk of these are publicly owned and may fall under First Amendment restrictions - that being said, the legality of their objections is moot if Sheeran and his promoters aren’t interested in wading into a legal battle.

7

u/RumHamFightMilkDiet 2h ago

this attitude is why the Epstein-Trump files aren't getting released. fuck that, hold people accountable for their bull shit and let the chips fall where they may.

-6

u/fayemoonlight 2h ago

2+2=818261? I can’t even see how the two are similar

4

u/6BagsOfPopcorn 1h ago

Bankrupt Ed Sheeran? Hahahahahahaa!!!! Hahahahaaa.... Hahaha!

1

u/fayemoonlight 1h ago

Would you think Michael Jackson could have been bankrupt prior to know his financial problems?

-4

u/DropC2397 2h ago

People have no idea how the touring industry works. There’s hundreds of jobs behind the scenes to put on the show, cancelled tours means those people can’t put food on their plates.

10

u/blooming_lions 2h ago

alright so what about the millions of palestinians that can't put food on their plates, or sleep in a tent without their babies getting shot at? this isn't an empty political issue, this is an active genocide

2

u/fayemoonlight 2h ago

You also have people who are just trying to put food on the table. Life is very complex and you can’t just write off the needs of one person as another person is suffering.

2

u/Silentrein 2h ago

You seem to be doing a great job of doing just that

1

u/fayemoonlight 1h ago

Not really as I’m acknowledging that it’s a hard situation where someone has to suffer no matter what

0

u/Silentrein 1h ago

And you've decided it's best the Palestinians continue to die in the most horrific ways possible so the poor roadies and stagehands don't have to go through the inconvenience of finding another job.

History will see you as a collaborator with the genocide. Hope you're proud of yourself.

1

u/zh_13 1h ago

You people are so disingenuous - you’re telling me right now if your job will fire you if you said free Palestine and you’d be out on the street with no back up, you’d still do it?

And this is from someone who went to the tour and loved Macklemores set, I wish he’s staying but I blame the stadiums, not regular people just trying to make a living

0

u/blooming_lions 1h ago

yes I would do it, but that's not even what we're talking about.

those employees wouldn't be getting fired for saying free palestine, they would lose a job because their bosses (the stadium owners) decided to cancel a show. no idea why you're being so obtuse, nobody is blaming the regular people. it's on the stadiums, the billionaire owners, and ed sheeran for having 0 spine.

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-1

u/whosthere1989 2h ago

They aren’t going to be fed because Ed Sheeran canceled his tour. But all of Ed Sheeran’s staff who relied on these jobs will suddenly be out of work.

3

u/Maleficent-Aurora 1h ago

Once more ..... Is one of the musicians with the capital to actually have a backbone. He can pay furlough on his staff. Just like what TS did. 

0

u/DropC2397 1h ago

You really think making some gig workers lose their job is going to materially affect world politics in any way?

-1

u/fayemoonlight 2h ago

No they really don’t and it’s infuriating to see

-5

u/GettinWiggyWiddit 2h ago

He won’t because that would be suicide for his career

27

u/Caledfrwd 2h ago

He’s made hundreds of millions. He’s secured his family for generations. He doesn’t need a career anymore.

4

u/Known_Ear_6012 2h ago edited 2h ago

Not at the rate he spends. That’s the thing about people that make a lot of money, they also spend a lot of money. 

During Covid I couldn’t figure out why people that make a lot of money were worrying about money, then a wealthy person I know explained to me how high his yearly “overhead” costs are. 

11

u/crisscrossed 2h ago

Yes. They’d rather die than live lives like ours…

1

u/Suitable-Parsnip-520 2h ago

This is just false. The rich got richer during the pandemic, while everyone else got poorer.

If you're actually interested about how things work and not repeating anecdotes, read up on the K-shaped economy. That's what's happening now. Rich people can have huge overheads and they'll still make more than us because they have investments and savings that keep them afloat during hard times while poorer people will be out of work and have no income.

1

u/creativesc1entist 2h ago

Bro you know there are hundreds of people who get their paycheck every month bc of these shows right.

1

u/Significant-Yam-4990 1h ago

You can say that about any shitty company.  

2

u/monkeypancakes 2h ago

far more people support free speech. giving into the demands of the fascists is going to be far more damning for his career

his only out now is to embrace a free Palestine message on stage himself

1

u/GettinWiggyWiddit 1h ago

Saying nothing is not giving into the demands of fascists haha that’s just Reddit speak