this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2026
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A Boring Dystopia

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Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran Tour After Onstage ‘Free Palestine’ Statements (www.rollingstone.com)
submitted 3 hours ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world
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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 points 7 minutes ago

Apparently no one read the article:

Macklemore has been removed from the rest of Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour after several venues allegedly told the trek’s promoter that they would not allow the rapper to perform. The news came after Macklemore made several onstage statements in support of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and called for a “free Palestine.”

In an exclusive statement shared with Rolling Stone, Messina Touring Group, promoter of the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, said: “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”

The option was show with no Macklemore or no show at all...

And that was the decision of the single company that owns almost every major venue in America

[–] inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 68 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (2 children)

Well Ed fucking sucks. This is more than just passively looking away. Silencing criticism of a genocide makes you actively complicit.

History will remember people like this.

[–] hOrni@lemmy.world 39 points 2 hours ago

And Macklemore is cool. He might be cringy, but he's genuine and I like him. Saw him live once and it was one of the best shows I ever saw.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 12 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

It's not Ed, it's the industry...

Like Macklemore said himself:

What happened to the artist? What d'you got to say?

If I was on a label, you could drop me today

I'd be fine with it 'cause the heart fed my page

I want a ceasefire, fuck a response from Drake (Woo)

Macklemore is truly independent, he can say whatever the fuck he wants.

Ed has "his own label" but it's owned by Warner, so if they tell him to do something, he has to do it.

There's only a handful of major labels, but they "give" popular artists sub-labels to cultivate an illusion of diversity.

Epitaph is one of "biggest small labels" and they even pull the same shit, although I'm not gonna complain Tim Armstrong gets more autonomy....

[–] inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

That's a distinction without a difference. Of course the label were a factor here, likely the deciding one. But that just makes the label culpable without absolving Ed from it. They all fucking suck, but Ed is still the one doing shows. He could/should have made Macklemore a condition of contuining to perform.

I get what you are saying, this choice wasn't made by Ed alone. But at the end of the day, all I see is a genocide being covered up. It doesn't matter if we blame the artist or the label more, all of them are complicit in silencing criticism. They should all be addressed, called out and remembered for their active inaction.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world -2 points 1 hour ago (4 children)

The choice was:

  1. Go along with Macklemore getting removed.

  2. Get removed along with Macklemore and if lucky get dropped.

What is more likely is the label keeps you on the current contract, but intentionally savatoges you to make an example out of. Even if they let him out of his contract, he's a big name but going independent would be a massive pay cut.

Like, without a label behind him, he's not headlining anything. His best bet is to get picked up as an opener like Macklemore, and obviously he could get dropped just as easily.

Absolutely nothing would change.

What needs to change is breaking up giant corporations so a handful of CEOs don't have this much power. That would actually solve shit.

I get what you are saying, this choice wasn’t made by Ed alone

You don't get what I'm saying, because I'm saying Ed had no say on if Macklemore would stay. He could just have thrown his own career away too out of solidarity when it wouldn't produce meaningful change.

Which is a very different choice.

[–] Cheese_man@lemmy.world 2 points 20 minutes ago (1 children)

If the tour gets canceled, Ed still has a public voice that people actually listen to. He could try to turn his fans on the owners of the venues, and what are they going to say? No one cares what some glorified landlord thinks or feels.

This was cowardly of him, and he'll have to live with the fact that he could have been a man and wasn't.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 0 points 14 minutes ago

This was cowardly of him, and he’ll have to live with the fact that he could have been a man and wasn’t.

So you think he got Macklemore to open...

And was shocked when Macklemore said this?

You don't think that he knew Macklemore would say what he's been saying for years, and that giving him this platform to say it wasn't valuable.

You know if Macklemore never got this gig, there wouldn't be an article right?

What's going on here, why are so many people not capable.ofnunderstanding this?

[–] Seppo@sopuli.xyz 4 points 48 minutes ago (1 children)

"It's OK if you do it for money"

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world -1 points 36 minutes ago

No...

It's just acting like he has any control just shows that you don't understand it.

If you think he can just say "Macklemore stays" and that's it, Ed looks like a huge dick.

Which is why it's worth clarifying he his only other option is to throw his own career away after almost certainly being the ones who got Macklemore on stage and able to say it in front of a huge crowd in the first place.

If everyone who supported Palestine quit their jobs in the entertainment industry in protest, it would just be handing away their microphones, figuratively and literally.

What's so hard about understanding this?

[–] inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 2 points 26 minutes ago (1 children)

He could just have thrown his own career away too out of solidarity when it wouldn't produce meaningful change.

Oh come off it. The man has a litany of awards. The idea that his career would end today because he showed solidarity with Gaza is laughable. You aren't making a serious argument here.

Always a million reasons to do the easy thing, but I'm glad some artists use their platform to do the right thing. Ed sure as shit isn't one of them.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 0 points 17 minutes ago* (last edited 3 minutes ago)

I think the main difference is you still think music industry awards mean anything when they're given by the literal people who are actually causing the problem you're mad about

And you also think Ed Sheenan is talented, and isn't just an aging popstar the same music industry made a thing, mostly thru their own made awards.

This is way more dystopian than you realize, you're just not understanding any of it because you're upset

Calm down and just think for a second man, none of this is overly complicated.

Like, in 2026 it's just shocking to find anyone who thinks an artist signed to a major label has any say about anything. Which was the entire point of my first comment.

but I’m glad some artists use their platform to do the right thing.

Who?

Kneecap does it because they're the biggest name on a small London Indie label who blew up internationally

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Recordings

And they can't play big festivals/shows anymore either.

So who are this mythical big names signed to major labels who can "do the right thing". Because I'm betting bringing Macklemore along to sing Hinds Hall in front of giant crowds is less than they did, especially knowing this would eventually happen.

Edit:

And to clarify, if Macklemore was on the lineup venues weren't going to let the shows happen...

I'm not saying there isn't something to be mad at here, I'm saying being mad at the wrong people just lets the actual problem go unaddressed.

It's starts to get suspicious you're so gungho to let the actual people censoring media in defense of Israel.off the hook

This is the kind of propaganda Israel excels at, and whether you know it or not you're doing their work for them

[–] Swemg@lemmy.world 1 points 38 minutes ago

Foxy got enough money to just say fuck it tho 🤷🏻 and that would help

[–] isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 hour ago

I guess Ed Sheeran was... Warned.

[–] Cheese_man@lemmy.world 31 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

What did they think he was going to do? Palestine has been Macklemore's whole thing for a few years, now. When they booked him in the first place, did they think he'd just play Thrift Shop 5 times a night or something?

[–] garbagebagel@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago

I think they probably risked it because someone on Ed's team (or Ed himself) likes him and they were hoping there would not be as much pushback or that it would not lead to the label or whoever their bosses are to be assholes like this. Seems like they were just trying to push the envelope and weren't successful unfortunately.

[–] JustPlainDave@lemmy.zip 20 points 2 hours ago

Yesterday I had no opinion on either. Today I have a higher opinion of Macklemore than Ed Sheeran.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 hours ago

  1. Apparently it was an ultimatum and there was a contract

  2. Had he chosen not to go on, the vocal people would say he was afraid to go on after Macklemore said Palestine.