Ed Sheeran has said it was not his decision to remove US rapper Macklemore from his tour over comments about Gaza.
During a show at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last week, Macklemore, 43, said that he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten, which led to a petition demanding he be removed from the remaining dates.
On Monday, Macklemore, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, posted on Instagram that Sheeran and his team had then “made the decision to remove” him from the Loop Tour.
But in a response on the social media platform on Tuesday, Sheeran said Macklemore’s departure from the tour was the promoter’s decision and not his.
Sheeran said “upcoming tour dates had communicated that they would pull the shows if he was still supporting”.
Among them, Sheeran said, was Robert Kraft, owner of the Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, where Sheeran was due to play.
Sheeran told his Instagram followers: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict.
“Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.
“Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own personal way.”
The Shape of You singer said he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and that he respected Macklemore “as an artist”.
Sheeran explained: “There is a reason I do not use my professional platform for politics – my audience includes young people, often children, of all backgrounds.
“Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum. I respect Macklemore’s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes.
“However, there is room for multiple approaches to the same end, peace. I choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed.
“If we only focus on shouting the loudest, nothing will ever change. There are different approaches to being an advocate for change.”
Sheeran said that he had “spent this week trying to build bridges, to find a solution and unfortunately was unable to do so”.
In his post on Monday, Macklemore said: “Ed was in a f***** up position. He knew it. 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’.”
A statement from Robert Kraft alleged that Macklemore’s comments were “hate speech”.
The statement accused Macklemore of allegedly having “a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community”.
Kraft added that he felt it meant that Macklemore’s participation in gigs at the stadium in Massachusetts on 25 and 26 September would cross a line.
Macklemore was supported by Irish rap trio Kneecap and singer Paloma Faith on Instagram following his removal.
Faith commented: “You are a rare and important voice, thank you for existing. This is so articulate and so powerful. You are a hero.”
Kneecap said: “All love and solidarity to @macklemore. Free Palestine.”
Macklemore was among more than 1,100 artists, musicians, and cultural workers who called for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest this year over the inclusion of Israel.
The letter, co-ordinated by campaign group No Music for Genocide, was also signed by artists including Faith, Massive Attack, Paul Weller, and Kneecap.
Source: Press Association