Macklemore has responded after being dropped as the opener from the remaining dates of Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour following his onstage comments supporting a Palestinian state.
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Macklemore → respond → state
The Thrift Shop rapper took to Instagram after Sheeran’s tour promoter issued a statement to Rolling Stone on Monday, alleging that venues on the U.S. tour told the company they would “not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.”
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concert → take → lineup
“As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.
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which → notify → fans
After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates,” Messina Touring Group, promoter of the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, told the outlet.
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Group → perform → outlet
In response, Macklemore wrote, “I’m not sure how to start this.
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I → write → this
So I’m going to speak from the heart and share the truth.
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I → go → truth
Ed Sheeran and his team have more the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.”
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Sheeran → have → tour
“But before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious.
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that → get → something
In this moment I think it matters.
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it → think → moment
We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world.
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We → have → world
Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.
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we → face → families
The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence.
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who → kill → violence
More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone.
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children → kill → Gaza
People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow.
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people → kill → ?
I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that,” Macklemore continued.
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Macklemore → want → that
“Last Monday, in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said at MetLife, Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him.
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Kraft → surround → him
We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft Group.
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which → schedule → Group
Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium.
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I → tell → stadium
Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues,” he added.
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he → tell → venues
Global News has reached out to Kraft’s representatives for further comment, but has not received a response.
The Can’t Hold Us rapper said that Sheeran, who he said is like a “brother” to him, was “in a f—ed up position.”
“He knew it.
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He → reach → it
His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before.
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it → challenge → way
He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with.
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he → tell → people
I told him that if those words were more offensive than tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood.
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I → tell → stood
But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides,'” Macklemore wrote.
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Macklemore → get → sides
“And I get why people don’t.
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people → get → ?
Taking a side can cost you.
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Taking → take → you
I’ve lost all of those things.
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I → lose → things
When one side has the bombs and bottomless financial and military support from America, refusing to take a side doesn’t leave you in the middle,” he continued.
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he → have → middle
Macklemore went on to say that what he said onstage during the MetLife concert on Sept. 4 is what he has “been saying on stages around the world for almost three years.”
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he → go → years
Because now I’m sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America.
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I → share → America
At a certain level of exposure, ‘Free Palestine’ becomes too much of a risk.
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Palestine → become → risk
If I kept doing shows, saying ‘Free Palestine,’ with Ed implicitly supporting it, the crowd getting loud and showing undeniable support for Palestinian liberation, what artist might speak out next?
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artist → keep → liberation
The stage becomes resistance.
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stage → become → ?
Maybe that’s why this time it became so important to silence me,” the 43-year-old rapper wrote.
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rapper → ’ → me
Macklemore said that he hopes this isn’t “the end of my relationship with Ed.”
“Thirteen years of friendship doesn’t disappear because of one painful disagreement.
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years → say → disagreement
I hope we both continue listening, studying what is happening in Palestine and wrestling with what neutrality means in a moment like this.
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neutrality → hope → this
My door will always be open to continuing that conversation,” he added.
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he → continue → conversation
The rapper said that he didn’t need 10 shows from Sheeran.
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he → say → Sheeran
“I needed 2.
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I → need → 2
Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say.
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that → stand → words
…and 9 more, not listed.
