New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a billionaire with a long history of donating to pro-Israel causes, took credit for blackballing Macklemore on Monday, describing the rapper’s Palestine tributes as “hate speech.”

It's rich that a billionaire gets to lecture others about morality considering that there are no ethical billionaires.

Honestly, the critic response in the article is so well-put, I don't have anything to add. Just posting it here in the hopes it's not missed:

Media and cultural critic Kaivan Shroff argued in Zeteo that Sheeran was not actually acting apolitically as he claimed, but rather “letting a pro-Israel billionaire choose his politics for him.”

“Kraft imposed a political condition on his tour, and then Sheeran enforced it,” Shroff wrote. “He did not remain above the dispute; he allowed the billionaire who owned the building to resolve it for him.”

“That is what the language of being ‘apolitical’ conceals,” he continued. “It treats the status quo as neutral and resistance to it as political. Kraft can decide that support for Palestinian freedom is beyond the boundaries of acceptable speech; venue owners can threaten a tour; corporate affiliates can calculate the financial exposure and draw their lines in the sand. None of that is described as activism. Politics supposedly only enters the room when Macklemore says those two words onstage.”

Shroff wrote that the saga demonstrated “how the ultrawealthy exercise political power without accepting political responsibility.”

“They translate an ideological demand into a business necessity, then leave everyone beneath them to describe compliance as unavoidable,” he said. “Kraft did not have to answer Macklemore’s argument about Gaza or persuade an audience that saying ‘Free Palestine’ constituted hate. He could simply threaten the tour instead. Once the money was put in jeopardy, all of a sudden, the unacceptable viewpoint disappeared.”

Let them fucking cancel the shows then. Damn Ed, grow a fucking spine.

In an Instagram post, Sheeran confirmed that Kraft had indeed rallied other NFL stadium owners to give an ultimatum that their shows would be canceled unless Macklemore was dropped. Sheeran said the decision ultimately did not belong to him, but to the Messina Touring Group, which is promoting the tour.

What he fails to realize (apparently), is that the moment Macklemore did that, and the stadium owner made him make a choice, he no longer had the luxury of being apolitical. The act of complying is a choice and taking a side. This is especially true for a guy like him who almost certainly has fuck you money and can take the hit.

You could excuse a person who can't afford to lose their livelihood (we are all trying to survive). But him? Boy oh boy did he choose a side.

I was informed that this stance was based on how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance, rather than on everything that was said.

This Instagram comment of his bugs me. This is the kind of shit that gets said to silence people. He can't tell you specifically what it is that was wrong, just a general feeling of "how it was conveyed".

Thank God Sheeren was informed of this so he can go on with his life without worrying about doing the right thing.

"I'm not complicit in trying to take political pressure off Israel so they could continue their genocide".

Oh but you are Ed, you absolutely are. Just as Israel has killed people for speaking out about what they're doing - so you tried to help what they're doing.

You are totally complicit in trying to make it easier for them, by trying to ease their PR, their freedom from pressure to do otherwise.

P.S If you scroll the Jordan Peterson sub on Reddit you can find the pro-Israel position/propaganda pretty easily. A lot of those campaigns are funded via the right and alt-right. People like Larry Ellison and Ben Shapiro just decided Ed Sheeran is worth listening to.

This is how so, so, so many of them are... They don't want to talk about "politics".

These people were in Nazi Germany, everyone. And you know what? They never got any blowback, for the most part.

They just said "no thanks" when, at the same time, people were shoved into ovens. No thanks, they aren't political. They don't want to talk about politics.

No thanks. They don't want to pick a side.

"I am not complicit" is the new "I was just following orders". Neither are credible defenses.

“I am appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine,” Sheeran said. “The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars across the world causing immeasurable pain, none of which should be tolerated.”

So his stance is please stop fighting, regardless of who the aggressor is.

I wonder if he also wants the war in Ukraine to end by giving Russia some land.

Those 4 words are going to haunt him the rest of his life, rightly so. I hope they define his legacy.

Being against genocide is not political, its basic morality and human dignity.

A painless and enjoyable way of showing support for Maclemore's stand is to stream Macklemore on your preferred streaming platform all day. If we all do that at least he will get some income and the numbers can help to show the world is on the same anti genocidal wavelength

My Unintentional Boycott grows stonger all the time! Nevermore shall I listen to Fred Sheery. . . uh . . Or, whatever.

Sheeran chose money over solidarity. I can call him whatever i want and he'll never read any of this. His fellow musicians will 100% remember this for the rest of their lives. All people gotta do is stop going to anything he's involved in. Unsubscribe from anything he's involved in. Lets see who he drags down with him and who tells him to get fucked.

He wouldn't need a sheeran if he wasn't a fucking sheep.

At least he can call his next album "Divide 2"

Track list: "Shape of Netanyahu" "Gaza Girl"

There are so many ppl in power supporting Israel in tangible, helping kill babies sort of ways, that Ed Sheeran getting the stick is kind of stupid. People just punch whoever is closest cuz they can't do shit about any of the real problem ppl

He should write a song about how he's not complicit

Ed is a musician. I would not expect perfect diplomacy from any musician. His job is to please his audience and I suspect he doesn't quite know what that is politically. He appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. I doubt he has any hard line political position and simply tries to balance demands from his fans and management while wishing he could just keep plucking strings.

"I'm not complicit"

Okay, so why'd you kick someone off the tour for?

It was to silence them so the genocide could be covered up and continued. It was to silence them so Israel had less pressure to stop.

Israel has killed people for speaking out. Helping them silence others is absolutely complicity.

Imagine if Ed Sheran was helping keep the Holocaust quiet, or helping keep political pressure off of the Nazis. We'd say he's complicit, a Nazi spokesperson and political collaborator.

Fuck you Ed

Why are they not calling Kraft by his full name Jeffrey Epstein Associate Kraft?

Saying nothing would have been better than that.

Both sides

Shocking from this used Kleenex of a man.

There is a reason I do not use my professional platform for politics […] My audience includes young people, often children.

What a terrible thing it would be to expose children to gasp politics. But blowing their brains out with a sniper rifle is something to consider “both sides” of I guess.

Fuck Sheeran.

What a little ginger bitch. Could have done the right thing, and instead, caved to an old, rich asshole who got caught on camera participating in human trafficking.

Too cowardly to even admit that, huh.

What are you scared of, not becoming a billionaire yourself?

Next: “how can I be complicit, I don’t even know what that word means!”

Generic shit a coward would say:

“I am appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine,” Sheeran said. “The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars across the world causing immeasurable pain, none of which should be tolerated.”

Literally all he has to do is shut his mouth and drop out of the tour in solidarity.

Just sit on the couch and do nothing.

The guy touring the usa has the gall to say 'I have no part in any of this', here I am having a moral crisis everytime I have to click a google link