After Macklemore sacking, Ed Sheeran enters a 'Sun City' moment

After Macklemore sacking, Ed Sheeran enters a 'Sun City' moment

In recent years pro-Israel advocates have aggressively sought to censor and control speech surrounding the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, particularly in the United States, and often with considerable success. This month, Zionist censors might have finally met their match — in the world of pop music. When British megastar Ed Sheeran kicked off a two-night New Jersey show on September 4 at MetLife Stadium before 80,000 plus fans, hip-hop star Macklemore opened the night with a message: "A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine." On night two, Macklemore made similar pro-Palestinian remarks but also clarified that his criticisms of Israel’s government were not criticisms of "my Jewish brothers and sisters.” This prompted the circulation of a petition from the Israeli-American Council demanding that Sheeran kick Macklemore off the tour. Pop singer Pink condemned Macklemore and said his comments made her feel “scared” as a Jewish person. NFL Patriots owner and billionaire AIPAC donor Robert Kraft pressured Sheeran to ditch Macklemore, telling the singer that his upcoming sold-out show at Massachusetts' Gillette Stadium might be canceled if he refused, and that he had rallied other stadium owners to cancel Sheeran’s scheduled concerts if the singer did not comply. “We do not provide a platform for hate speech,” Kraft said. On Monday, Macklemore was removed from the rest of the tour. Sheeran blamed his US tour promoter. This seemed like a win for pro-Israel advocates — until it didn’t. Other supporting acts for upcoming Sheeran shows began dropping out immediately. American singer Finneas, the brother of pop star Billie Eilish, announced that he would not perform and instead showed solidarity with Macklemore. “I stand with Palestine and its people,” he declared. Irish singer Aaron Rowe did the same, saying, “I can’t allow billionaires to silence rightful voices.” Danish pop artist Lukas Graham abandoned the tour, explaining on Instagram, “It’s hard to watch families in other parts of the world burying the people they love. We should be able to speak about war, about civilians being killed, about children who deserve to grow up. Wherever they live. Whatever flag flies over them.” Then, Sheeran’s own touring band, Beoga, also announced they would not be performing for similar reasons. As of this writing, all of Sheeran’s openers have quit, many fans have demanded their money back, and Sheeran began losing a significant number of social media followers while his former support acts gained about 1.6 million new ones. There are now reports that the entire American tour, which was set to resume this weekend in Philadelphia, could now be in jeopardy. Sheeran’s overarching defense throughout this ordeal has been that he is not a political act (an understandable, if perhaps dubious, claim). On a business level, this could be considered practical and even an admirable stance for entertainers. It should also be noted that most of the acts now refusing to participate in the tour, and also Macklemore, each made a point to call Sheeran a friend and thanked him for the opportunities he allowed them. But even apolitical music acts can get caught up in politics. In 1984, English rock legends Queen made the decision to play at the "Sun City" casino in South Africa, which at the time was a global focus over that government’s controversial apartheid policies, becoming a protest cause taken up by many musical artists. Queen, and particularly its singer, the late Freddie Mercury, defended their choice by claiming they were not a political band. Perhaps not, but that decision ultimately hurt Queen, getting it blacklisted for breaking the cultural boycott of South Africa and turning off many fans (their historic performance at 1985’s Live Aid not long after would do wonders in washing away so much bad PR). In 2021, Queen drummer Roger Taylor admitted they had made a mistake. “Oh sh*t, did we get grief for that,” Taylor lamented. Today, few people, musicians or otherwise, would want to be remembered as being on the side that gave any kind of support to South African apartheid. Sheeran could now be caught in a similar situation. He might be trying to remain non-political on this issue, but it could also be an unavoidable one for him at this point, as it has become unavoidable in general. To be clear, the pro-Israel forces who attempted to pressure Ed Sheeran, his opening acts, and subsequently, their fans, were definitely being political in trying to force all of them to submit to their will. But maybe this week they finally found out that, for all the power of pro-Israel voices, not everyone is always going to be bullied into singing their tune.