Rap artist Macklemore, real name Ben Haggerty, opened for Sheeran at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey, where he decided to give a political message.
“I want those words to be loud and clear so the people from Gaza, all they way to the occupied West Bank, know that we have not forgotten about them … So, I say free Palestine,” Macklemore stated in a clip from USA Today. He also referred to Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide.
One of the upcoming dates on the tour was Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, owned by Robert Kraft, who also owns the NFL's New England Patriots and happens to be proudly Jewish. Either Macklemore had to go or the two dates would be cancelled, costing Sheeran an estimated $10 to $14 million.
With Macklemore gone, Sheeran still felt the need to apologize. He called what happened in Israel at the music festival on October 7 “horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain.”
However…
“What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic, and unjustifiable, and disproportionate. And the systemic injustice we're seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked,” Sheeran said.
He said he has not set out to be an activist musician, wanting to keep his music as a safe space for everyone. Furthermore, he said people of opposing views are still welcome to his concerts to stand by each other.
Alex McFarland of Truth for a New Generation and co-host of American Family Radio's "Exploring the Word," says the game played by the Left is having two definitions of politically charged terms, like genocide. They accuse someone using the lesser definition — genocide is any defensive action Israel takes — then punish someone according to the greater definition —the wiping out of an entire race. It's an old game, he says.
“The Left has always harnessed the power of semantics to drive home political presuppositions,” McFarland states.
Sheeran would have been better off keeping his thoughts to himself, McFarland said.
“No one should care what guitar players think. Guitar players need to stick to playing the guitar."
