From The Hollywood Reporter · Ethan Millman · · 1m 10s
Macklemore: "The victims are the Palestinian people"
Dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour over his Gaza politics, Macklemore refused to play the wronged star.
In brief
Dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour over his Gaza politics, Macklemore refused to play the wronged star. When a famous person loses a gig over speech, the loss is real but small next to what they were speaking about. Originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Cut from the tour
Macklemore was removed from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour. He answered Monday with a long statement posted to Instagram.
Venues made the call
Sheeran's tour promoter said earlier that morning that venues threatened to pull out if the rapper was allowed to perform.
“venues threatened to pull out if the rapper was allowed to perform”
He opens by refusing the role
Before anything else, Macklemore rejects the frame everyone expected him to take.
“Before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious. In this moment I think it matters. I am not a victim.”
Nobody famous is the victim
He names the other stars pulled into the story and clears them too, Sheeran and Pink included.
“Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim.”
What a career buys you
Money, safety, global audiences. Whatever the fallout from speaking out, he says, all of them still go home to their families.
“We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world.”
Where he points instead
The statement ends by moving the subject off the tour and off himself entirely.
“The victims are the Palestinian people.”
The one thing
When a famous person loses a gig over speech, the loss is real but small next to what they were speaking about.
