Former Pink Floyd singer-songwriter Roger Waters, who has long been a vocal supporter of Palestinians, called Ed Sheeran a “little prick” on Tuesday night in an Instagram message in the wake of Macklemore getting fired from Sheeran’s tour over his statements supporting Palestinians living in Gaza.
“I just have a little message for you,” he said, after the screen showed the words “Ed Who?” and a snippet of Waters’ cover of “We Shall Overcome” played in the background. “There’s two kinds of people in this world. There’s people who do the right thing, that rapper Macklemore would be one of those people, and there’s people, many of them sadly little ff… — excuse me I nearly used the F-word then — pricks like you who do the wrong thing. Goodbye.”
Earlier this week, the tour’s promoter announced that the venues hosting future gigs demanded that Macklemore be dropped or the shows would not happen. At two New York City–area concerts, Macklemore shouted “free Palestine” during his opening set, showed imagery of the destruction in Gaza after Israel launched its war against Hamas, and performed a song about a 6-year-old Palestinian killed in the war.
“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,” Messina Touring Group said. “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”
On Wednesday, all of the other support acts booked for Sheeran’s tour, including Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe pulled out of the tour in support of Macklemore. “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote on Instagram. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”
In his own statement, Sheeran placed blame on the promoter and venue owners who blacklisted Macklemore. “I was also involved in direct talks with promoters along with activists on both sides to try and find a mutual resolution for all, but the venue’s and promoter’s decision was final,” Sheeran wrote in a statement. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a statement that he didn’t want Macklemore performing at Boston’s Gillette Stadium.
“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” Macklemore wrote in a statement. “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.”
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called allowing stadium owners to restrict free speech “a dangerous precedent” in a statement.
