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Rock legend slams Ed Sheeran as US tour crumbles over Macklemore-Palestine controversy
(www.the-independent.com)
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this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2026
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Really unfortunate as it had nothing to with Sheeran's team. It was the stadium owner that blocked Macklemore.
Ed Sheeran chose to be a spineless weiner and cave to the billionaires. He had enough power to push back and chose not to.
Or, if he wanted to stay in business as a well-remunerated organ-grinder’s monkey, an apolitical entertainer who guarantees a good show to anyone who likes his songs regardless of politics, he should have vetted his supports better, as you can’t have it both ways.
I do believe the mistake is with the billionaire stadium owner. He had an opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the issue, but chose not to. That is something I think is lacking in todays world, and talking first will almost always lead to better outcomes.
The guy is a personal friend of Bibi Netanyahu. He's not interested in talking, he's interested in covering up for Israel because he is a Zionist. He literally runs a surveilance center inside the Patriots stadium where they track "anti-semetic hate speech" online. Which includes things like "Free Palestine" and criticism of Zionism.
There's no discussion to be had. Nothing Macklemore said was hate speech, or should even be considered controversial. He advocated for people who need help. He even said none of it was an attack on Jewish people. Billionaire Zionists and their powerful friends realized it was effectively spreading a message they wanted to suppress, and now here we are.
I've never thought that not talking was the better option than talking. I would suppose then you don't associate with anyone you disagree with.
I mean not particularly when the disagreement is about wether or not a genocide is bad. At a certain point, there are fundamental differences that are irreconcilable.
War is always bad. I'm still at a loss why Hamas doesn't just stop.
When Israel gave Gaza to the Palestinians it was a prosperous land. Hamas did nothing but build tunnels and missiles with the sole purpose but to destroy Israel.
Another situation where talking might improve things.
Some truth to that perhaps, but Sheeran is worth some $400,000 million. He could easily told those stadiums that if they feel the need to cancel the shows over Macklemore's statements they could do so. They would have to refund all those tickets to people. Sheeran could then just change the tour to other, smaller venues. Or even arrange free concerts in the affected towns. Instead, he bowed to those billionaire stadium owners and tried to dance around saying it wasn't his fault. Bad choice and not one I'd have made if I had his resources.
As I said earlier, I believe the fault lies with the stadium owner when he chose to not have a discussion with Macklemore. I have no idea what kind of contract Sheeran had with the owner, so it's really hard for me to speculate what Sheeran should or shouldn't have done. Easy enough to judge when we are all outsiders.
Beatles and Green Day managed it without a fraction of Sheeran's wealth and power. Capitulating was Sheeran's choice.
I honestly have no way to compare the situations.