All opening acts quit Ed Sheeran's tour over Macklemore canceling

After online protests and complaints about Macklemore's on-stage pro-Palestine/anti-Israel comments, Messina Touring Group, the company promoting Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour, determined that Macklemore would be removed as the opening act. Venues had told them that if the tour didn't cancel Macklemore, the venues would pull out entirely and not host Sheeran and the other acts.

Now a bunch of the other bands have quit, too. Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, Finneas, brother to Billie Eilish, and traditional Irish band Beoga said they were backing out of the tour in protest. On Instagram, Finneas said, "artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed. I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people." The people of Palestine attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, massacring 1,200, including a bunch of kids at a music festival. It was this attack that prompted the new conflict.

Among Macklemore's songs are "Free Palestine" and "Hind's Hall," celebrating the Columbia University students' takeover of an administration building during which they held janitorial staff hostage. Macklemore had previously shouted "F*ck America" from a Seattle stage as proceeds from his ticket sales went to groups that have ties to terrorism.

Sheeran had issued a comment on his Instagram blaming the promoters, but that wasn't enough to staunch the tide of cancelations from the other bands on the tour.

Sheeran said he was "appalled" by the Israel-Gaza conflict, that there is "suffering and pain caused on both sides," which he said is a "human tragedy." Macklemore, he said, asked to join the tour last year and Sheeran said he respects "him as an artist" and allows all support acts to choose their own setlist. After a New Jersey show, Sheeran said he was "informed" that other venues wanted to pull out. Sheeran tried for a week to "build a bridge" but it wasn't happening and Patriots owner Robert Kraft led the charge.

The refusal to platform Macklemore, Sheeran said, "was the promoter's decision," and not his own. "Macklemore's contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me," he said. Sheeran said he would never cancel an act. Sheeran went on to say, "I have always used my platform and music to bring people from all backgrounds and cultures together and this won't ever change. Those who have been to one of my shows will know that they are about unity, joy, escapism, love, and a place for everyone to feel welcome."

"I am not complicit," he went on. "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." Sheeran prefers not to use his platform for political diatribes, he said, but he respects Macklemore's "strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes."