Paloma Faith has weighed in on the controversy surrounding Ed Sheeran removing Macklemore from his Loop Tour.
Earlier this week, the Shape of You singer and his team axed Macklemore as a supporting act due to the rapper’s “free Palestine” comments during two performances in New Jersey.
In solidarity with the Thrift Shop singer, all remaining supporting acts on the Loop Tour – Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, and Beoga – announced that they were dropping out too.
“I’m really glad that I’m not Ed Sheeran right now because it’s actually astounding and quite badly handled on the part of everyone who advises him,” Paloma, 45, told Krishnan Guru-Murthy on his Channel 4 show The Fourcast.
Describing Ed as “a nice guy”, she added that he is “learning the hard way is that it’s impossible to be at that kind of level and think that you can stay out of politics because being apolitical is a political act in itself.”
The Only Love Can Hurt Like This singer explained she has “always been at odds with the culture of political apathy” and believes musicians should champion humanitarian causes.
She also brought up that she had performed at a concert with Ed Sheeran to “raise money for Ukraine,” questioning why “one felt more political than the other.”
When asked whether she believed Ed should cancel the nine remaining dates on his Loop Tour, Paloma questioned whether he could do it “insurance-wise,” adding, “I don’t know the small print of that. It’s much more nuanced in a legal sense.”
Explaining that she thought it would be the right thing to do “ideologically, she added, “I don’t know what the implications of that would be financially to his team or whether it could bankrupt him.”
