Rapper Macklemore is a vocal supporter of Palestine and Gaza residents. During a recent concert at MetLife Stadium, he yelled “Free Palestine!” onstage, projected images of devastation in the area, and performed protest song “Hind’s Hall.”
Now, it seems that American venues are not willing to play ball with the Seattle artist, and he has been dropped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour.
“After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates,” according to Messina Touring Group, the promoter of Loop Tour. This news follows backlash from organizations like StopAntisemitism and others, such as pop star Pink.
“American Venues”
Not sure who’s calling the shots here
EDIT:
Nothing says “good guy” like compromising your principles for money, right? tf is your argument here?
Macklemore was quite clear in his post: He blames Robert Kraft and not Ed
It’s likely not up to him as he has contractual obligations that could ruin more than just his own livelihood.
The whole system is fucked. Rotten to the core
EDIT: these replies are peak left self harm.
Macklemore: free Palestine
NFL Stadium Owners: drop Macklemore or we’ll cancel your show
label and tour management: we can’t lose all these venues, so Macklemore has to go
Lemmy community: how could Ed Sheeran do this??
Like, how about we point our anger at the people actually causing the problem, instead of the guy trying to salvage his tour in a no-win situation because of racist fucks
Won’t somebody think of the millionaires? His whole livelihood is at stake here!
And it’s not like his livelihood is even at massive risk - he’s a big enough name that any arena worth his time to perform at will be big enough that there won’t be other acts available that will sell enough seats at short notice, so they’re pretty likely to cave if he puts his foot down.
I don’t really care about him, but this line of thinking creates assumptions and expectations that are almost never going to be met. He is one of the wealthiest musicians, he isn’t just a performer, he is a businessman. If he was willing to risk or limit the success of his brand for his views (assuming his views are pro palestine), he probably wouldn’t be in the position he is in.
At the end of the day, it is a mainly systemic issue, not an issue of moral failiure. Some individuals will push against the systemic currents, but this will always be the exception, not the rule.
The only way to combat systemic issue is by changing/replacing the system through collective action, not individual action. Ed Sheeran chancling his tour in solidarity with Palestine would not stop western nations from supporting israel. The only way is a nations citizens collectively applying pressure.
If becoming one of the world’s wealthiest musicians requires prioritisation of your brand over improving the world in ways you absolutely have the power to do, then becoming a wealthy musician is absolutely a sign of moral failure. It’s also not even necessarily detrimental to the brand to associate it with acting morally - that only made Dolly Parton more beloved.
Macklemore did it, why can’t Sheeran do it too? Because he either doesn’t hold these views, or he likes money more. Simple.
You can even use the publicity of being cancelled to talk more about the issue. It’s not hard when you have a spine.
THIS is the part that gets me. Ed could have come at Kraft and the other venue owners and threw some hate to ticketmaster for good measure and probably come out fine
Get in a line; https://apnews.com/article/justice-live-nation-ticketmaster-swift-cca2b9881881fb016d0862b945ccddee
Did you not read the part where I said “more than his own livelihood”? Or did you just choose to ignore it?
There are so many more people than just Ed Sheeran who would be hurt by him breaching his contract. Everyone working that tour would be hurt. Likely hundreds of people who are doing gig work for this tour.
That’s so American: 100’s of Americans might lose their paycheck, so we can’t do anything to protest the 1000’s of non-Americans getting killed.
please quote where I said “do nothing”.
because “don’t do this” is not the same as “do nothing”
Why would Ed Sheeran be breaching a contract if he hadn’t caved? The arena owners were threatening to refuse to let him play, they would have been them in breach of contract, not him.
source on that please?
Stop FUDing, they’d get another gig, it’s literally their job.
yeah I mean who cares about people losing their jobs, you just go get another one, easy 🤡
Again, stage technicians and alike make a living roaming from gig to gig. Sure, they can stay with one specific artist but it’s not a necessity, so stop FUDing.
Also… Just following orders™, eh?
And the truck & bus drivers, catering, roadies, grips, crew, wardrobe, sound guys. You think he puts in all the work himself?
Listen I’m not defending Ed Sheeran’s decision here but don’t forget it’s not always about JUST his money - he personally knows a shitload of people who are going to lose their next 18 months’ income without much recourse if he bails now, who aren’t millionaires. Tour work is literally gig work.
Sheeran has more than enough money to pay those people out of pocket for any dates that canceled.
No. You think they only work for him?
Yup. People seem to be ignoring the part where I specifically said “more than his own livelihood”.
And this isn’t even touching on the impact to future contracts. Venues and other businesses don’t want to sign contracts with people who have shown a willingness to breach agreements for personal or political reasons.
It doesn’t even sound like it’s his decision. Seriously, how much agency do people really think musicians have over their performances, venues, lineups, etc.? That’s all handled by record labels, agents, managers, etc.
If the venue says “not so-and-so” and the record label says “okay,” there’s literally jack-shit that the headliner can do about it…
He has enough of a name to start his own label.
Because Ed could personally payout all of the staff working on the tour and cancel it. Because “Staying Neutral” is really just siding with oppressors. Because in a no-won situation you want to support the people who are currently being genocided and not venues paying you big bucks to keep quiet.
You are right we should be calling out the people actually causing the problem, but Eds decision actively helps them continue causing said problem.
Those same contractual obligations should apply to the stadium owners.
Is he responsible for his obligations if the stadium refuses him? Sounds to me like he would have made an effort to meet his contract, but someone else refused him.
Honest question, I have no idea how these things work, but have a hard time believing Sheeran had no choice but to give in
Separate contracts. Sheeran’s contract and Macklemore’s contract are unlikely to be contingent on each other. Plus there are probably terms in the contract regarding conditions under which the venue is allowed to break the contract “for cause” which Macklemore’s situation likely breaches
I would tell the “system” to get bent. Ed Sheeran doesn’t have to do anything. It’s his tour, if they don’t want to allow him to perform over human rights, that’s on them.
If this is true, I’m going to remove every Ed Sheeran song from my music library.
good thing the earth is so tiny and most of the universe completely misses this shit.
Okay, bear with me here but, if I’ve gotten this right (good probability I haven’t), if we divide the earth’s mass of ~6 x 1024 kg by the estimated total mass of the observable universe, ~3 x 1052 kg, Earth represents 0000000000000000000000 0000000000000000000 00000000001% of the total mass of the observable universe.
I’d say that effectively, though not technically, none of our absolute fuckery has any impact on Big Universe, if only by mass comparison. Thank fuck.
If the venue is giving him an ultimatum then he clearly has the agency to tell them no. Otherwise they would be executing the contract not making demands.
If Robert Kraft and the other stadium owners break tour contracts over a “we don’t like your opener” thing after they already signed, it’ll be huge fees and possibly a lawsuit. Ed Sheeran had leverage here and he didn’t use it.
His record label had the leverage and chose not to use it. There’s very little say the artists themselves actually have in these kinds of things.
This isn’t some starving artist we’re talking about here. This guy already has more money than you’ll make in your entire life working an honest job.
Does that give him any more agency in what transpires between his record label and the venues where he’s booked?
Yes it does. His fan base is what shows up and pays money in the first place.
He already has a name, time to cut loose?
All them big name artists could put their money where their mouth isn’t and build a venue, i’m sure it wouldn’t make Bono any poorer.
This is, actually not a bad idea. Someone send this to someone like Jack White. Get together a bunch of top musicians to actually fund the creation of a network of publicly owned venues. They can share resources and even pay artists real wages for performances. Call it a public option. Just needs the seed money
You realize their record labels hold all their IP, don’t you? So they cut loose and go indie and build a venue. What happens when their old label tells them they can’t play any of their music?
Didn’t Taylor Swift have similar issues?
I’m guessing bad publicity would be a deterrent for those labels. I guess poor ol’ Ed would have to create new stuff too.
It’s not like Macklemore has been quiet about his stance on Palestine. If it were a problem with Ed Sheeran, he probably wouldn’t have been on the tour in the first place.
Yeah but Sheeran is willing to bend the knee to keep the tour going. A real one would apologize to fans and let it be known it’s the venue owners cancelling shows and why.
It’s not like he’s some Indy act who won’t get more shows.
Ed Sheeran would never play the United States again if he pissed off Robert Kraft and the stadium owners (and LiveNation along with them).
Glad the US isn’t the world (unless you’re murican).
Sometimes it’s about more than money. There’s plenty of non stadium venues he could still tour at.
Ed is a brand, not a talent.
Watch. If he had refused to go on without Macklemore, these guys would’ve said “oh the rich baby didn’t want to go on because Macklemore said Palestine” or some shit.
Blame the rich fucks for their crimes; don’t invent new catch-22s to hang on them.
If “these guys” you’re talking about are Zionists, then I don’t think he should care what kind of vitriol they try to brew up for him. In fact, pissing them off is often the correct stance.
…and then Sheeran chose wrong.
So a piece of shit
zionists are calling the shots in “american venues”