Billy Bragg has shared his stance on the backlash facing Ed Sheeran following Macklemore being dropped from his tour due to pro-Palestine comments.
Earlier this week, the ‘Thrift Shop’ rapper made headlines over his impassioned “free Palestine” speech made while opening for Sheeran at New Jersey’s Gillette Stadium. The speech prompted calls for Macklemore’s removal from figures like Pink and the Israeli American Council.
Macklemore was then dropped from the tour, with Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft later confirming that he found Macklemore’s speech “deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community”, resulting in his dismissal.
Sheeran would later speak out about the situation, saying he was “not complicit” and that he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and sees the “suffering and pain caused on both sides” as a “tragedy”.
His response, however, has sparked some backlash, with all of his support acts – including Finneas, Lukas Graham and Beoga – all pulling out of the tour in solidarity with Macklemore and the people of Palestine, as well as Sheeran’s backing band.
Recent support acts BIIRD and Myles Smith also came out in support of the rapper, and others to speak out so far include Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who called Sheeran a “little prick”, and Massive Attack who said: “’Neutrality’ in the face of the slaughter of more than 20,000 children can never be neutrality”.
Now, Billy Bragg has shared his stance on the topic too, telling ITV News that he thinks the controversy could “tarnish” Sheeran’s career and make him into “a pariah”.
“He seems like a nice fella, and he entertains a lot of people,” Bragg shared. “He’s made a great living doing that, [but] this is the sort of issue that could tarnish his career…could make him a pariah of sorts. It will be a shame if that happens.”
He went on to share what he would do if he were in Sheeran’s position, adding: “If I was Ed, I’d swallow my pride, cancel the tour, and say ‘I’m sorry, but I’m not having billionaires decide what can and cannot be said at my gigs’.”
“He either should have said something about Palestine, or said something about free speech because I think that’s the issue here. Fundamentally, it’s about the right to express your opinion,” Bragg added.
“What the owner of the Gillette Stadium, Robert Kraft, [is doing] in refusing to allow Macklemore to play at his stadium because he said ‘Free Palestine’, is he’s trying to intimidate an artist into silence. That seldom works.”
Sheeran is yet to respond to his acts pulling out, or to the comments from Bragg, Massive Attack and Roger Waters.
Social media analytics have shared that since the controversy began, Sheeran has lost over 200,000 Instagram followers, while Macklemore has gained 1.6million on the platform.
The rapper has confirmed that he has donated his entire $1million earnings from the tour to Palestinians – with Kraft matching with $2million to “aid in the region”.
