Macklemore was pulled from Ed Sheeran’s remaining Loop Tour dates after “Free Palestine” remarks at MetLife. Sheeran says venues told promoter Messina/AEG they’d cancel the shows if Macklemore stayed, so the promoter dropped him, not Sheeran personally. Sheeran says he spent a week trying to broker a fix and couldn’t. Then Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, and touring band Beoga quit in solidarity. Online still blames Sheeran because he wouldn’t risk canceling stadiums; that’s leverage, not proof he ordered the firing.
also, he's very capable of performing by himself with just a loop pedal.
This is more of a harm to his reputation as the "fluffy jolly golden retriever redhead musician". Hes avoided every scandal so far, and now one got him.
Feel sorry for him - everyone should have the right to avoid sharing polarising/political opinions when doing so means endless online and often in-person hate and abuse.
No one really cares what social media mobs are saying.
Just have a look at JK Rowling. How did that cancel thing go?
There is no point in trying to cater to social media. There is bound to be someone who is unhappy about what you are saying and the goalpost will be moved everytime you do what the social media mob wants anyway.
Plus (and I know this is not a prevailing Reddit view) why not he cancelled for not taking a stance on the Sundanese civil war? Or Myanmar? Israel/Gaza is a horrendous situation but there are others that people just ignore. I know it’s not a zero sum game and is can be seen as ‘whataboutism’ but my God we have taken one conflict and reduced it to a binary, unnuanced, you’re either this or that public purity test. For both sides. It’s like we’re willingly giving our intelligence away and becoming spectators picking a team. I don’t doubt people feel intensely strong emotional responses but we need to layer some cold intellect on top of that.
That's such a deeply cynical viewpoint.... which also happens to be extremely accurate.
And the most cynical of all is the virtue signallers themselves. Just ask them what exactly what they mean by actually freeing Palestine, and they'll tell you exactly how it should play out with genocidal glee.
But also why does ANYONE give a shit what Ed Sheeran thinks about the Middle East?!? Tell the United Nations to get the auburn troubadour on the phone, he’ll sort it all out.
Yeah. I mean what’s the guy supposed to do? Cancel the tour (because venues will cancel it) and have the logistics folk that set up the tour not get paid?
I thought I’d never say this in my life but so many people are terminally online with no life experience and it shows.
Macklemore spoke out about Palestine, the stadiums Ed is touring at said that he won’t be allowed to play there if he brings Macklemore.
People are disappointed that Ed won’t take a stand against the businesses trying to silence artists who speak out about a genocide.
Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.
Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.
That’s what Macklemore said. Ed had a choice, he chose. An uncomfortable or difficult choice is still a choice. Nothing in there about the promoters.
I wouldn’t call it simply a “good ‘ol’ Reddit witch hunt”, I’d say a “good ‘ol social media witch hunt”, since it’s coming from everywhere, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X…
With worrying about how I’m going to have enough to eat and live, What a celebrity says, like Ed Sheeran, is not even on the list of the least of my worries.
Ed don't care. He's getting paid no matter what. He's under contract, all he's gotta do is show up and get paid. Most people don't give a shit about the opening bands anyway. Plus, the opening bands are fungible. The promoter will get someone new and we'll all move on.
Yeah, people in the entertainment industry famously don’t care what the public thinks of them. Supporting acts probably should’ve rolled over and gotten with the program because sending a message doesn’t matter.
Is this one of those things where Redditors think they did something but in reality it’s ONLY Redditors thinking it and people who aren’t chronically online don’t care?
I mean, does every concert these days have to have a political message in it somewhere? Can't we just listen to music, have a good time, and go on about our lives?
Macklemore was not prevented from anything. The proof is that we all know his opinion.
And yes, it is probably to protect the bottom line but it can also be because he doesn't want anything political, maybe he thinks people wants to go to a concert to get a break from reality, not be reminded of one of its worst aspect.
This "reality" tho is hand-crafted. I'm being a bit philosophical now, but going to a concert, bonding and experiencing joy is the real reality in a way.
And none of that matters lol. You think it affects him if he has no other bands on his tour, he's the main guy. He's doing THEM the favor of being there, not the other way around. He's still gonna sell tickets, most likely sell out, and continue to build his fortune.
That's why we can't have nice things anymore.. Everything has to be political nowadays and everyone has to pick a side. Concerts are no longer places were you just go and forget about everything that sucks in the world.. You are no longer aloud to disconnect for a couple of hours... Modern times suck...
Man, I’m so fucking exhausted from politics and virtue signaling everywhere. I wish more celebrities, especially politicians, (athletes, actors, musicians) would stop injecting politics into everything.
Every time an entertainer is in the news for something political I honestly yearn for a time when entertainment wasn’t as much of a political hellscape.
Exactly right. Everytime a singer or actor give their political views on things I think “why would anyone care? Being an actor or a singer doesn’t make their opinion any more valid than any moron on the street” and then we have an entertainer who keeps his political view to himself and everyone rushes in to hate the dude. Have we really reached the point where we can’t listen to music or watch movies if we don’t perfectly align with the artist on all their political views?
Explain to me why Ed Sheeran should be cancelled? What did he do that has made so many people mad?
In my opinion, he is the main reason for the tour, right? It's his tour, right? And he does not like to get involved in politics at his shows, and even if he personally wanted to, its his show, so his rules..... right? His opinion is that his show should be about entertainment and to leave crazy politics out of it.
And this other guy, basically works for Ed Sheeran, correct? I will tell you this, if one of my employees was talking to thousands of people and did anything other than represent my company, they would have been fired before we got back to the car. Ed Sheeran didn't want nor ask for this type of association.
I don't care if the guy mentioned Palestine, Nazis, MAGA, DEMS, Bernie, Israel, etc. The content of what the dude said, has no bearing. I actually agree with Ed, and the simple fact this "cancelling" is taking place proves him correct.
It was not even Ed Sheeran who kicked Macklemore out, but the tour promoters and venues. I understand disliking his "neutral stance" and him not backing his friend. But on the other hand, on a tour this large, there are hundreds of people working for the crew. Electricians, scaffolders, sound guys, and many more. If the main act just throws away the tour, that would mess all those people over.
I've been talking to my wife about this and we have the same thought process like you. I've seen other people who said he can just pay the people that's losing the income, he's rich enough. That's besides the point. He himself is running a business. If he didn't have Macklemore on then this wouldn't even be a talking point.
Also everyone is saying boycott Ed etc. I guarantee you 99% of these people are all talk and have done sweet fuck all for Palestine. The internet just likes to pile on shit and unfortunately Ed is the target right now.
Yeah they put a flag on their Twitter on Instagram page and think they're doing something.
This also isnt like Russia/Ukraine where its clear Russia is doing something bad. Both sides are fucked up, and theyve been doing this for thousands of years. I hate both of them and I wish they would just stop and fucking share Jerusalem. But religious doctrine prevents them from being kind to each other, so why would I support either side? Palestine puts their military targets close to civilians and then the world is fuckung appalled when Israel refuses to stand down because they have human shields.
I grew up in the 90s and 2000s, there was never any doubt in anyone's mind when learning about this conflict in school, that they are both fucked up.
The irony is that Palestine will never be free until Hamas disarm, but no one seems to call for that to happen. It's all performative nonsense with no solution. All fart, no poo.
Honestly he should double down and announce he will donate money because of this fiasco. Then write some Jewish organization some big check. It’s not like the pro Palestinian crowd will accept any kind of amends and this way you endear yourself to the Jews while they are down in the public eye. People will respect you not being a little bitch bending the knee to the virtue mob. I’d also throw Macklemore under the bus fuck that guy.
He’ll live, it’s called loop for a reason, folks go to listen to his music , most apart from a radical bunch dont care for politics at a music venue They leave that for Reddit or twitter/X
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u/sco-go Sep 16 '26
Added context:
Macklemore was pulled from Ed Sheeran’s remaining Loop Tour dates after “Free Palestine” remarks at MetLife. Sheeran says venues told promoter Messina/AEG they’d cancel the shows if Macklemore stayed, so the promoter dropped him, not Sheeran personally. Sheeran says he spent a week trying to broker a fix and couldn’t. Then Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, and touring band Beoga quit in solidarity. Online still blames Sheeran because he wouldn’t risk canceling stadiums; that’s leverage, not proof he ordered the firing.