Ed Sheeran: Fallen from grace

With his red hair he would fit on the cover of an Irish travel guide. And Ed Sheeran, who was born and raised in England, says he feels culturally Irish. His paternal family comes from the island; he spent many vacations there as a child and made his first musical attempts there. “Musically, it’s basically my second home,” he says. “I would say Ireland is the place where I have been most successful musically.”

But that was once. Because the Irish's love affair with Sheeran came to a halt after rapper Macklemore was offered as the opening act for his "Loop" world tour last week - on the instructions of the organizer. The reason: Macklemore had shouted “Free Palestine” on stage at a joint concert in the US state of New Jersey and shown images of the destruction from the Gaza Strip to “Hind’s Hall” – a song about Hind Rajab, the five-year-old murdered by the IDF in 2024.

After Macklemore's expulsion, all other supporting acts - the Irish Aaron Rowe, the Irish-American artist Finneas and the Dane Lukas Graham as well as Sheeran's backing band Beoga - canceled their participation in Sheeran's tour in solidarity with Macklemore. In addition, an Irish radio station decided to stop playing Sheeran songs until further notice. Sheeran's number of followers on Instagram fell by almost 150,000 within 24 hours, while Macklemore, who is also of Irish descent, gained more than 750,000.

The reaction of his accompanying musicians was a humiliation for Sheeran, wrote Guardian journalist Laura Snapes. Because these musicians have a lot more to lose than the extremely rich singer, who has sold over 150 million records with hits like “Shape of You”. But they understood that giving up financial and professional advantages was necessary in order to show character and take a stand against genocide and against billionaires who suppress freedom of expression.

Sheeran initially claimed he had nothing to do with the eviction: "Macklemore's contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me." He himself doesn't talk about politics on stage: However, Sheeran appeared at the "Concert for Ukraine" in 2022, signed an open letter to Theresa May about Brexit and supported the Equality Act in the USA.

The difference is that all of these positionings are viewed as less controversial in the West. This is different with statements about Gaza. Media professor David Hesmondhalgh says: "Sheeran wanted to gain credibility by associating himself with an artist like Macklemore, whose image is based on strong political commitment." As a result, his commitment to neutrality now seemed spineless.

In Ireland, solidarity with Palestine is very strong because people associate it with their own experiences with British colonialism and the Irish struggle for independence. Dublin songwriter Aaron Rowe said that as an Irishman he knew all too well what genocide, forced famine and violent occupation meant: "I must remain true to myself and to my ancestors who resisted colonization and fought for the freedom I enjoy in Ireland today."

John Pavlovitz, a former U.S. youth pastor and author, wrote in an open letter to Sheeran: "Hey, Ed Sheeran, it's just sad that you now suffer from such moral voicelessness, given the size of the stage and the reach of the microphone you've been entrusted with, and the voice you've been given that could ring out so loudly for people in danger."

The driving force behind Macklemore's expulsion was the Israeli American Council. Its executive director, Elan Carr, claimed that “Free Palestine” was “clearly a call for the annihilation of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.” Carr put pressure on billionaire Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. He, in turn, gathered some of the other stadium owners behind him and together they issued an ultimatum: If Macklemore was there, all appearances would be canceled.

Kraft is friends with Donald Trump and a major sponsor of Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu said at an awards ceremony honoring Kraft in 2019 that “Israel has no truer friend.” Kraft is also a friend of Sheeran. He appeared at Kraft's wedding reception in 2022 and described the billionaire as "super sweet". Now everyone is practicing harmony: Macklemore has pledged $1 million of his earnings from the “Loop” tour to humanitarian organizations in Gaza. Sheeran and Kraft followed suit and pledged $2 million each for “aid in the region.”

Even more embarrassing for Sheeran than the withdrawal of his co-musicians was the applause from the right-wing extremist scene. The Englishwoman Lucy Connolly, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2024 for inciting racial hatred, wrote on X: “I support Ed Sheeran!” And the racist right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson also announced on X that he supported Sheeran – and “Fuck Palestine”.

At his first concert after the scandal surrounding his colleague Macklemore, Ed Sheeran made his first comments on Saturday at a concert in Philadelphia on the east coast of the USA. According to US media reports, some pro-Palestinian demonstrators had gathered in front of the stadium where the concert took place.

“What is happening in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate,” he said, expressing his sadness “at the level of destruction and loss of civilian lives and children’s lives” in the Gaza Strip. The “systematic injustice” in the West Bank “should not be ignored”.

Sheeran also said he had to make “difficult decisions” and made “mistakes.” He was “so, so sorry”.