What he fails to realize (apparently), is that the moment Macklemore did that, and the stadium owner made him make a choice, he no longer had the luxury of being apolitical. The act of complying is a choice and taking a side. This is especially true for a guy like him who almost certainly has fuck you money and can take the hit.

You could excuse a person who can't afford to lose their livelihood (we are all trying to survive). But him? Boy oh boy did he choose a side.

Sheeran chose money over solidarity. I can call him whatever i want and he'll never read any of this. His fellow musicians will 100% remember this for the rest of their lives. All people gotta do is stop going to anything he's involved in. Unsubscribe from anything he's involved in. Lets see who he drags down with him and who tells him to get fucked.

"I am not complicit" is the new "I was just following orders". Neither are credible defenses.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a billionaire with a long history of donating to pro-Israel causes, took credit for blackballing Macklemore on Monday, describing the rapper’s Palestine tributes as “hate speech.”

It's rich that a billionaire gets to lecture others about morality considering that there are no ethical billionaires.

Honestly, the critic response in the article is so well-put, I don't have anything to add. Just posting it here in the hopes it's not missed:

Media and cultural critic Kaivan Shroff argued in Zeteo that Sheeran was not actually acting apolitically as he claimed, but rather “letting a pro-Israel billionaire choose his politics for him.”

“Kraft imposed a political condition on his tour, and then Sheeran enforced it,” Shroff wrote. “He did not remain above the dispute; he allowed the billionaire who owned the building to resolve it for him.”

“That is what the language of being ‘apolitical’ conceals,” he continued. “It treats the status quo as neutral and resistance to it as political. Kraft can decide that support for Palestinian freedom is beyond the boundaries of acceptable speech; venue owners can threaten a tour; corporate affiliates can calculate the financial exposure and draw their lines in the sand. None of that is described as activism. Politics supposedly only enters the room when Macklemore says those two words onstage.”

Shroff wrote that the saga demonstrated “how the ultrawealthy exercise political power without accepting political responsibility.”

“They translate an ideological demand into a business necessity, then leave everyone beneath them to describe compliance as unavoidable,” he said. “Kraft did not have to answer Macklemore’s argument about Gaza or persuade an audience that saying ‘Free Palestine’ constituted hate. He could simply threaten the tour instead. Once the money was put in jeopardy, all of a sudden, the unacceptable viewpoint disappeared.”

Being against genocide is not political, its basic morality and human dignity.

“I am appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine,” Sheeran said. “The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars across the world causing immeasurable pain, none of which should be tolerated.”

So his stance is please stop fighting, regardless of who the aggressor is.

I wonder if he also wants the war in Ukraine to end by giving Russia some land.

This is how so, so, so many of them are... They don't want to talk about "politics".

These people were in Nazi Germany, everyone. And you know what? They never got any blowback, for the most part.

They just said "no thanks" when, at the same time, people were shoved into ovens. No thanks, they aren't political. They don't want to talk about politics.

No thanks. They don't want to pick a side.

Let them fucking cancel the shows then. Damn Ed, grow a fucking spine.

In an Instagram post, Sheeran confirmed that Kraft had indeed rallied other NFL stadium owners to give an ultimatum that their shows would be canceled unless Macklemore was dropped. Sheeran said the decision ultimately did not belong to him, but to the Messina Touring Group, which is promoting the tour.

I was informed that this stance was based on how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance, rather than on everything that was said.

This Instagram comment of his bugs me. This is the kind of shit that gets said to silence people. He can't tell you specifically what it is that was wrong, just a general feeling of "how it was conveyed".

Thank God Sheeren was informed of this so he can go on with his life without worrying about doing the right thing.

"I'm not complicit in trying to take political pressure off Israel so they could continue their genocide".

Oh but you are Ed, you absolutely are. Just as Israel has killed people for speaking out about what they're doing - so you tried to help what they're doing.

You are totally complicit in trying to make it easier for them, by trying to ease their PR, their freedom from pressure to do otherwise.

P.S If you scroll the Jordan Peterson sub on Reddit you can find the pro-Israel position/propaganda pretty easily. A lot of those campaigns are funded via the right and alt-right. People like Larry Ellison and Ben Shapiro just decided Ed Sheeran is worth listening to.

Those 4 words are going to haunt him the rest of his life, rightly so. I hope they define his legacy.

He wouldn't need a sheeran if he wasn't a fucking sheep.

A painless and enjoyable way of showing support for Maclemore's stand is to stream Macklemore on your preferred streaming platform all day. If we all do that at least he will get some income and the numbers can help to show the world is on the same anti genocidal wavelength

At least he can call his next album "Divide 2"

Track list: "Shape of Netanyahu" "Gaza Girl"

My Unintentional Boycott grows stonger all the time! Nevermore shall I listen to Fred Sheery. . . uh . . Or, whatever.