Image: [Macklemore] via Facebook
Macklemore has broken his silence after being dropped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour, addressing the “painful disagreement” that led to his removal from the U.S. leg of the tour. The rapper confirmed his departure in a candid statement shared on Instagram Monday (Sept. 14), following the announcement of his dismissal.
Opening his statement by putting the situation into perspective, Macklemore wrote, “Before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious … I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim.”
Macklemore’s comments come after his public support for Palestine and his repeated use of the phrase “Free Palestine” onstage. He made clear that his position has created a deeply personal conflict because of his long friendship with Sheeran, whom he said he has known for 13 years.
“I consider him a brother,” Macklemore wrote of the British singer. “Nothing I’m writing here is out of spite or because I want to tear down his character. But as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can’t change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened.”According to Macklemore, Sheeran told him approximately a week earlier that Robert Kraft, the owner of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, had contacted him about Macklemore’s appearance. The stadium is scheduled to host two Loop Tour shows on Sept. 25 and 26.
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Macklemore alleged that Kraft told Sheeran the rapper “would not be allowed to perform in his stadium” and had also “rallied some of the other stadium owners” around the issue. He claimed Sheeran was ultimately given an “ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”
“Ed was in a f–ked up position,” Macklemore wrote. “He knew it. His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before. He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with.”
Macklemore said he challenged that position during their conversations, particularly over the contrast between criticism surrounding his remarks and the suffering of Palestinians. “I told him that if those words were more offensive than tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood. But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides.’”
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While acknowledging Sheeran’s difficult position, Macklemore remained firm about his own stance. “Antisemitism is real,” he added. “And that is exactly why the word matters too much to be used as a shield against criticism of the Israeli state. When criticizing Israel, opposing Zionism or saying ‘Free Palestine’ gets conflated with hatred of Jewish people, it doesn’t protect Jewish people. It protects Israel from accountability.”
Despite the fallout, Macklemore said he hopes the situation does not permanently damage their friendship. “I hope this isn’t the end of my relationship with Ed,” he concluded. “Thirteen years of friendship doesn’t disappear because of one painful disagreement … I didn’t need 10 shows from Ed. I needed 2. Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say. Free Palestine. But if those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.”
Macklemore’s removal from the tour was first announced Monday morning in a statement from Messina Touring Group. The decision follows months of heightened attention around his outspoken position on the Israel-Palestine conflict and his criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
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