Macklemore has responded to being dropped from the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour, after comments he made onstage about Palestine drew controversy. The rapper responded in a lengthy post on Instagram in which he seemed to place the blame for the ban on New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, saying that the billionaire rallied other stadium owners to refuse to allow Macklemore to perform at their venues, rather than Sheeran or even Pink, who commented on his statements. In this moment I think it matters.
Ed Sheeran is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.
The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow.
I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that.” He continues, “Last Monday, in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said at MetLife, Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him. We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft Group. Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium.
Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues. 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.
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.” “And I get why people don’t. Taking a side can cost you.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
