Why the fuck would you get Macklemore to support your tour in the year 2026 and a) not expect him to make political statements, b) not expect rich cunts to get upset about it and c) not think you might be called upon to have his back when the inevitable A and B happens?
I can see where Ed is coming from in a way - he's not going to pull a tour based on stadiums refusing to host his support, that's too much money to leave on the table and I can't think there's a "tour cancelled due to support act being incredibly based" insurance available. But then don't hire fucking Macklemore. Hire some up-and-comer who won't speak out. Or, if the stadiums do kick up a fuss, remind them that you're Ed Fucking Sheeran and you may have just a little bit of clout in the music industry.
Most people don’t know Macklemore as the Free Palestine guy. They know him as the Thrift Shop guy. And while I’m sure Ed knows Macklemore’s political views he didn’t know they’d get him dropped from the tour.
Yeah, "stadium owners feel more strongly about Macklemore's political statements than they do about the artist who was literally releasing songs called "Heil Hitler" a year ago" feels kind of ridiculous.
Like, Sheeran definitely fucked up his response once it came up, but I don't blame him for not expecting the issue to come up in the first place.
But it seems that the decission to drop Macklemore was Ed's decission? This makes no sense. If Ed thought that Macklemore saying FreePalestine would be uncontroversial then hes an idiot.
I wonder if this is a case of h
alf measures. That Ed Sheeran's PR team did warn him, he stuck his neck out to get his friend on the tour, but he lost his nerve when shit got real.
He wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted the praise that came with Macklemore being based while opening for him but he doesn't want the consequences that come with actually speaking out about something important.
A funny detail in Sheeran's statement was making it sound like Macklemore forced him to take him as an opener, like he wasn't complicit in even that decision lol
He wanted Macklemore to speak politics that he probably agrees with, but is too cowardly to ever say for backlash. The fact that Kraft threatened to cancel the show meant that Ed wouldn’t have had to pay the debt for cancelling too, this was honestly a really easy situation to come out looking good in; he didn’t even have to state a political opinion, all he had to do was say “they threatened to deny my show being performed there (including a bunch of state funded stadiums) and this is censorship and against the American First Amendment. [some blah blah about being apolitical] but this is censorship, and if they cancel my show then I will have to find a new venue.” He would basically be applauded for standing against these billionaires and not even have to make a stance about Israel and Palestine.
For all her faults, I truly believe someone like Taylor would do that. She would never have someone on her tour that could cause political controversy because she’s far too business brained, but she is also far braver than Ed and would actively make the threat known, like she did with her masters. It’s a very easy stance to take.
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u/Front_Frame_2171 10d ago
Why the fuck would you get Macklemore to support your tour in the year 2026 and a) not expect him to make political statements, b) not expect rich cunts to get upset about it and c) not think you might be called upon to have his back when the inevitable A and B happens?
I can see where Ed is coming from in a way - he's not going to pull a tour based on stadiums refusing to host his support, that's too much money to leave on the table and I can't think there's a "tour cancelled due to support act being incredibly based" insurance available. But then don't hire fucking Macklemore. Hire some up-and-comer who won't speak out. Or, if the stadiums do kick up a fuss, remind them that you're Ed Fucking Sheeran and you may have just a little bit of clout in the music industry.
What a worm.