Tour Exodus
Four support acts quit Ed Sheeran's US tour after promoters drop Macklemore over pro-Palestinian remarks onstage.
Sheeran's US tour lost its entire supporting lineup this week. Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham and Beoga all walked, days after promoters cut Macklemore from the bill for pro-Palestinian remarks onstage.
Billie Eilish's brother and musical collaborator, Finneas, was the biggest name to go, according to BBC News and NPR. Rowe, Lukas Graham and Beoga followed within hours. Each posted their exit on Instagram.
September 5, MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Macklemore shouted "free Palestine" and displayed images of destruction in Gaza during his set, NPR reported. Venue owners, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, told tour promoter Messina Touring Group they'd bar him from their stadiums, according to The Guardian.
The call wasn't his, Sheeran said. "Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter's decision, it was not mine," he wrote on Instagram, per BBC News. He spent the week pushing venues "at length" to reverse it. It didn't work.
"Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed," Finneas wrote, adding that he stood with Palestine, according to NPR. Lukas Graham was blunter. "Money doesn't give you the right to own the conversation," a line NPR tied directly to Kraft's role in the decision. Beoga, in a statement carried by BBC News, said it couldn't keep playing venues that "silence anyone advocating for a Free Palestine."
A friend who had "changed my life," Rowe called Sheeran. Still, he told NPR he couldn't "stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence" other voices.
Colin Kaepernick weighed in too. The former NFL quarterback told the MeidasTouch podcast that Kraft and other team owners had "colluded" against Macklemore, comparing it to the league blackballing him after he knelt during the national anthem, The Guardian reported.
Saturday, Sheeran plays Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. His Loop tour website hadn't been updated as of Tuesday, and still listed Rowe and Lukas Graham as special guests, per BBC News.
Macklemore pledged his $1 million Loop tour salary to organizations aiding Palestinians and challenged Kraft to match it, The Guardian reported. Kraft's answer: he and Sheeran would commit $2 million combined "to aid in the region."