Singer Ed Sheeran has broken his silence on the controversy over rapper Macklemore’s removal from his tour after Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian remarks sparked outrage.
“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision; it was not mine. Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me,” Sheeran said in a statement on Instagram Tuesday.
Macklemore was dropped from the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour after saying “free Palestine” onstage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
“I spoke with the venues at length all week to try and build a bridge. One of those people was Robert Kraft,” Sheeran said. “I was also involved in direct talks with promoters along with carrots on both sides to try and find a mutual resolution for all, but the venue’s and promoter’s decision was final.”
During a Sept. 4 speech, Macklemore said he wanted people in Gaza and the “occupied West Bank” to know they had not been forgotten. His remarks prompted backlash and a petition from the Israeli American Council calling for his removal from the tour.
Sheeran emphasized the “suffering and pain caused on both sides,” but maintained he is not implicated.
“I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict,” Sheeran said. “Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care. Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own, personal way.”
Macklemore issued a statement on Instagram on Monday announcing that he was dropped from Sheeran’s tour after facing pushback from Kraft. The Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Macklemore and Sheeran were slated to perform later this month.
Macklemore said his words in support of Palestine during performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey are being twisted into accusations of antisemitism.
“He [Sheeran] 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. “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.”
Macklemore maintained that “antisemitism is real,” but that thinking support for Palestine goes hand-in-hand with hatred of Jewish people “protects Israel from accountability.”
Macklemore has previously faced backlash over a 2014 performance in which he took the stage wearing a bushy black beard, a dark wig, and a fake nose.
Pro-Israel groups said the costume resembled anti-Jewish caricatures. Macklemore said the resemblance was a coincidence.
“A fake witches nose, wig, and beard = random costume. Not my idea of a stereotype of anybody,” Macklemore said on Twitter at the time.
JOE CONCHA CALLS MACKLEMORE AN ANTISEMITE FOR PRO-PALESTINIAN REMARKS DURING ED SHEERAN TOUR
Both Macklemore and Sheeran expressed their friendship and respect for each other in their respective posts.
Sheeran’s next concert is scheduled for Sept. 19 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.