US rapper Macklemore has issued a statement, saying he was removed from his tour with Ed Sheeran after saying “Free Palestine” during a gig supporting the British singer.
The 43-year-old, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, said during a concert at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey that he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten, and added in a post on Instagram that he hoped it was not the end of his friendship with Sheeran.
Following the comments, a petition was launched demanding he be removed from the remaining dates of the tour, and Pink reposted a message criticising his comments to her Instagram page.
In a post on Monday, Macklemore said: “I’m going to speak from the heart and share the truth. Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.
“But 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. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world.
“Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.
“The victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence.
“More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that.”
Macklemore went on to claim that Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns the Gillette Stadium that they were due to play in, had contacted Sheeran and told him they would not be able to play unless he was removed from the tour.
He added: “Ed was in a f***** up position. He knew it. His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before.
“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.
“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.
“But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides’.”
Macklemore was supported by Irish rap trio Kneecap and singer Paloma Faith on Instagram.
Faith commented: “You are a rare and important voice, thank you for existing. This is so articulate and so powerful. You are a hero.”
