Rapper Macklemore is a vocal supporter of Palestine and Gaza residents. During a recent concert at MetLife Stadium, he yelled “Free Palestine!” onstage, projected images of devastation in the area, and performed protest song “Hind’s Hall.”
Now, it seems that American venues are not willing to play ball with the Seattle artist, and he has been dropped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour.
“After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates,” according to Messina Touring Group, the promoter of Loop Tour. This news follows backlash from organizations like StopAntisemitism and others, such as pop star Pink.
At the moment macklemore only has a single performance lined up. But maybe we should put our money where our outrage is and keep an eye on https://macklemore.com/shows/
Ed Sheeran here had a chance to be a hero to everyone who believes in humanity and human rights. He could have cancelled the tour for all the venues being explicitly pro-genocide and moved the concerts to other venues in the area. He would have made less money, yes. It would cost him a few fans, but he would’ve gained so many mlre. Instead he caved like a building built out of cotton candy in a short rain shower. And now I’ve sanitized my playlists from p!NK and Ed Sheeran music, these two have shown themselves to have no values. P!NK being the worst by far by actively picking the side of the oppressor. I’m done with her. Fuck Israel. Free Palestine one hundred times!
Dixie Chicks all over again
Its McCarthyism all over
Ed Sheeran could have done the better thing and used his platform for good hadn’t he been a spineless coward.
He supported a band of Ukrainian soldiers in a similar situation, but when it comes to someone saying “Free Palestine” he just nopes the fuck out.
Ed is a fucking coward, this is known
Thankfully Ed Sheeran will refuse to play as well, in support of his musical peer. Right?
Macklemore the goat!
Been going back through and listening to a lot of rap from early 2010s, and I forgot how wonderful and outspoken a lot of them are. Lupe was speaking out against the bombings in gaza since Obama was in office.
That’s crazy because that exact Lupe song popped up on shuffle yesterday in the car (Words I Never Said ft. Skylar Grey). I haven’t heard that song in years! As it was playing I was listening to the lyrics, thinking to myself, “wow, nothing has gotten better in 15 years”. In fact, things have gotten worse! When will we get a break from all the awful things happening in the world?
Fuck Ed Sheeran and his promoters, got it. I feel it’s important that we acknowledge that the focus should be on Sheeran and his team for their cowardice in this situation, and not focus too heavily on Macklemore. What he did is the bare minimum we should expect from those in the spotlight. Being against a genocide should be so fucking basic it isn’t news, and being in support of a genocide should be so disgusting that it ruins a person’s entire reputation.
I’m eagerly awaiting the free speech defenders of the right to take up this cause!
You won’t find them here on Lemmy lol
That’s why I like this place so much. We’re all crazy and fight with each other all the time, but unlike other platforms like YouTube and Reddit, at least here we can all agree that human beings deserve basic rights! (for the most part lol)
“Free Speech” was only ever about screaming the N-word in the middle of your State Uni quad, while wearing your Red Cap and waving an American Flag.
If you are not against then you are pro. Ergo, Ed Sheeran is pro-Genocide kind of person.
Black n white. Them and us. The only correct ideology - and the renegades.
These are the prominent features of the fascist ideology. 💁
Some things are black and white though.
Like rape is bad. If you meet someone’s who refuses to “take a side on the rape debate” then they’re just defacto pro rape.
Exactly. It’s so convenient to just start calling all men as rapers (because: they have penises!). Thus, all who disagree with this illogical term swap - are “siding with rapers”.
Like, before the invasion, putin has made all the official national media be spreading anti-nazi and neo-nazi campaign (presenting all ukranians as “nazi”). Thus, putin is not killing the ukranians - he is allegedly “fighting the neo-nazi”. How convenient!
The same way people who object juggling with the term “genocide” or who refuse to side with the motto “from the river to the sea” (urging to destroy Israel) are readily accused of "supporting genocide”. Also convenient!
Nah, i’m not buying this “anti-neo-colonial history revisit”. It has a simpler explanation: revanchism.
oh there’s a fallacy for this! to make a claim so erogenous in an attempt to make the other person’s point seem objectively bad because it’s ‘connected’ to the bullshit your spewing! :D
There’s no need to make the other person’s point seem bad - if it’s objectively bad, though.Also:
the bullshit you’RE spewing!
You are welcome!
Israel should not exist. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. This is a chant to end the supremecist ethno-state and replace it with a state that respects all ethnicities and religions (much like existed before the zionists came to the region).
Also here’s a reminder that Israel bombed a synagogue in Tehran that is older than zionism.
I’m with you on this. Some folks just have a nuanced position on whether the holocaust was a bad thing. That doesn’t immediately make them an “antisemite” or a “horrible human being”. /s
How about “Ed Sheeran is a spineless coward who’d rather hoard even more intergenerational wealth than taking a political position”?
Robert Kraft should sell the team and buy a soccer team in israel where he can actually be patriotic instead of pretending to do so for America while propping up a terrorist state.
Fun fact, all Israelis are required to take part in their genocidal military. So they are all military targets. Just like they say about the babies they kill. Those Israeli babies will one day be in the Idf, so free reign right? Let’s be consistent.
Did you miss a “/s” there?
I get that you’re trying to mimic the rhetoric used by far right Israeli politicians, but doing so for real makes you no better than them. In that case the only redeeming aspect is your lack of action. Using this language sarcastically is, IMO, misguided and dangerous as it will make other people believe, that it’s an acceptable stance. It is not an acceptable stance.
You’re advocating for the killing of innocent children, because their parents are advocating for the killing of other children. Please say that we have moved on from that eye for an eye bs.
You do know that no nation is a monolith right?
There’s Israeli people who hate the genocide just as much as you do and are trying to stop it but against insurmountable odds
More information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_war_protests_in_Israel
There’s Israeli people who hate the genocide
Sure. And there’s the Klansman who has black friends. There’s the ICE agent who wants immigration reform. There’s the Jewish Nazi.
More information
:-/
And you ignored the anti-war protests part of the link?
I think OP is simply pointing out that the rhetoric the Israeli state uses with regard to Palestinian civilians and Hamas applies equally well (if not more so) to Israeli civilians and the Israeli state. Not necessarily endorsing it.
Nah, their reply makes it clear they’re not
Never like that dude since he agreed to go on game of thrones and just throw off the vibes.
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I’m willing to bet Sheeran had very little to say about this, in my limited understanding of how these things work it was negotiations between touring company agents, insurance and venues.
This says a lot more about the capture of American politics by supposedly non-political organisations than it says anything about Ed Sheeran’s politics or his music.
Edit: didn’t read the article properly, it clearly states that Sheeran had a role in this but recognises that he was put in a position of being pressured into a decision. If he had more of a backbone, he might’ve been willng to push back harder even of it meant putting the tour dates at risk.
Macklemore posted a statement on this that is nuanced in that it calls Ed a close and valued friend and shows a lot of understanding for exactly this dynamic (it’s primarily the venues), while also making it very clear that Ed Sheeran considers himself “apolitical”, which means aligning yourself with the status quo and siding with the oppressor, and that for Macklemore himself it’s a matter of duty to use his platform to not do that.
I don’t really believe anyone is “apolitical”. You can choose to distance a yourself from politics, but sometimes it comes to you. Sheeran is in that second situation.
It shouldn’t be hard for him to take a milquetoast “all loss of life is tragic” position at the very least.
Ed Sheeran can afford the luxury of being “apolitical”
If Ed’s willing to keep his mouth shut about genocide just to make his billionaire bosses happy, then he is complicit. Fuck him.
such as pop star Pink.
Is Pink some kind of authority on oppressed peoples of the world?!
Actually yes. She gets a first hand view of oppressed peoples faces when she sings her cringe fake punk shit at them.
Have you read the article? Not what it says or she implies.
Of course I don’t speak for Israel, or for any government. I never have. What I said in October 2023 is still exactly what I believe: Hamas is a terrorist organization. Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations. Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child. Anybody’s child. I’ve spent a decade as a UNICEF ambassador for kids who didn’t choose the country or the war they were born into, and I have grieved every one of them, on both sides of that fence. I didn’t do it from behind a screen; I went to those children and held them. I’m not going to litigate a complex war in an Instagram caption, and I’m not going to recite anybody’s slogan to earn back a follower.
She certainly sounds like someone who thinks they’re an authority on oppression.
Do you have any idea how many wars have been stopped by P!nk’s photo-ops?
