Ed Sheeran Apologises As Ticket Prices PLUMMET

Ed Sheeran has tried to draw a line under the biggest controversy of his career. In a speech to fans at his show in Philadelphia on Saturday, he said this. >> Now, I want to address the question of where I stand in this situation in Israel and Palestine, and whether my giving this concert tonight implies where I stand. I've tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind, because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division, about humanity, not politics. But, this is a humanitarian issue, and I can't hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel and at the Nova music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic, and unjustified, and disproportionate. Our hearts are broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilian lives, children's lives. And the systemic injustice we're seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked. I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims in these terrible times, and listening and learning, because I do not know enough. I honestly am so grateful that you're here standing with me. >> [cheering] >> This This concert is still a place where everyone is welcome, and everyone here can stand beside people that have opposing views, and everyone here can stand beside people that they don't agree with on everything, but they can all agree on singing these songs. And these songs are about love, hope, and unity. >> Now, the pop star faced a major backlash over the decision to axe Macklemore from his tour after the rapper gave a free Palestine speech at a show in New Jersey. Following the decision, all the other support acts on the tour dramatically quit. And Macklemore was unrepentant after being dropped. He told his fans on Instagram this, "I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs, to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under occupation, and still fighting for their freedom." The rapper said he would donate his entire $1 million net earnings from Ed Sheeran's tour to six organizations delivering aid in Palestine. Ticket prices for Sheeran's shows fell dramatically as unimpressed fans asked for their money back. By Saturday, tickets for the Philadelphia show were listed at $42, a 50% fall. Pro-Palestine activists rallied outside the Lincoln Financial Field Stadium. Hillary Steinberg was one of the people protesting. She told The Guardian this, "I feel betrayed about how he handled this. It has sort of soured how I think about him as an artist." Another protester, 62-year-old Ed Dugan, had equally strong words for Sheeran. >> Well, Ed Sheeran is worth $400 million. He could have afforded to give up a few concert dates, but he was too chicken. I almost said a bad word. He was too chicken to uh I don't understand it. Somebody that has that much money and threw his friend under the bus. >> Back in the UK, some felt the British star had been hard done by with Nick Ferrari saying this on LBC. >> Have they had enough now, this baying mob? One of the world's biggest stars reduced to tears by this angry crowd furious at what some support acts did. I've ne- I've met Ed Sheeran once. He's extraordinary export for this country. He's an extraordinary advert for this country. And he does a hell of a lot of work for charity you never ever get to hear about. And for a support act to plunge him into this problem. When people go to the MetLife Stadium or wherever they go, do you think they're going to see Ed Sheeran or they probably like the fact that Macklemore was I'm sure they're happy about it. But it's not Macklemore who sold the tickets. It's Ed Sheeran. >> Yeah, take that Ed Macklemore. As you will have heard in his speech to concert goers, Sheeran said he had never wanted to be an activist musician or political commentator. But of course, he has engaged in politics before. In 2021, he joined other artists in calling on the US Senate to pass the Equality Act, which would have given federal protections against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. In 2017, he announced his support for Jeremy Corbyn. And in 2022, he joined a concert for Ukraine in Birmingham. >> Hey guys, I just watched your video this morning. Thank you so much for sending it. Firstly, I just want to say to all Ukrainians that I love you. I stand with you and I'm so proud to be playing this fundraising event next week. >> I mean, Sheeran's stance on on Israel Palestine on Palestine on the genocide looks less like the result of him not wanting to be a commentator and more like, you know, just an an overt political choice and one that many people actually make. Um, just to not get involved and to not not take a position. Just as his refusal to say the words genocide or ethnic cleansing in his statement on Saturday also seemed a political choice, right? You've got you've got to choose what you're going to say when you're going to say something and um and and that's what he chose to say. If he does manage to put this controversy behind him though, he will have done better than other artists who have lost work for speaking up for Palestinian rights. Actress Melissa Barrera was fired from a role in the Scream franchise in November 2023 after she criticized the Israeli military's actions in Gaza on social media. Susan Sarandon was dropped from her agency over outspoken support for Palestine. Meanwhile, supermodel Bella Hadid also claims to have lost work because of her pro-Palestine activism. That's not to mention of course the many ordinary people who have been punished for protesting for Palestinian rights. Uh, there there are for example Palestinian Palestine action activists jailed in the UK. There are people who oppose the ban on Palestine There are students in the US threatened with deportation for protesting. And then of course there are the people of Palestine themselves. In Gaza last week, a mural of Macklemore appeared on the side of a destroyed building there. It was a reminder that life is still going on in devastated territory despite continued air strikes from Israeli forces. At the bottom of the artwork is a message, "Thank you for using your voice for Palestine, Macklemore." Harriet, what did you make of Ed Sheeran's apology? >> Um I thought his apology was utter dog and I am not going to mince any words about this. This was pro-Israel teleprompter-read propaganda. I have no other way to say that. It was offensively historically inaccurate, centering the start of this as October 7th. It it really did. It It read like pro-Israel propaganda. I I I really can't find any other words for it. It >> [snorts] >> the way that he he positioned it as a conflict with two sides. It's a shame that one side doesn't have an army, navy, or air force. And um he refused to say the word genocide. I thought it was a really really offensive statement, frankly. And this So, for a second, I just want to speak to the longevity of this story. It has absolutely populated my social feeds for 7 full days and it's it's take there it's seeing no signs of slowing down. Ed Sheeran's tears today, I think it's important to note that as Macklemore said, I noticed that we're doing some different pronunciations. >> Apparently it's Macklemore. >> Macklemore. >> Yes. >> But he got a Mackle all night long. Like Macklemore. Um as he rightly said when he announced that he was going to donate a million dollars to Palestinian relief organizations, um he said, "I am not a victim in this. Ed Sheeran is not a victim." But Ed Sheeran's white male tears have made him the victim in this and he just is not. And I think that we need to remember this. He is worth $400 million. He's literally richer than God. And he could have turned around and said, when he was when a pressure was applied to him by pro-Israel billionaire Robert Kraft, the owner of the Gillette Stadium, he could have turned around and said, "All right, then. I'll pay all the artists. I'll refund fans, and I won't play these shows, and I will tell everybody why I've made that decision." And maybe Robert Kraft would not have bowed to that pressure, but maybe he would, and Ed Sheeran could hold his head up high now and say, "You know what? I refuse to to throw my friend Macklemore under the bus, and I refused to throw the Palestinian people under the bus, either." And we would be having a very different conversation now. But unfortunately, he did not make that decision. I was having a a bit of a like debate with a friend today about um whether we should feel sorry for Ed Sheeran. Like he's not a politician. He makes very, very milk-toast, bland music, um that people really like. Should we expect any more from him, really? And I said, he had a choice here. He's not a child. He doesn't He doesn't need to show himself off to as historically illiterate as he has done, or to engage with pro-Israel talking points, which he has done, and he didn't need to cave to a pro-Israel billionaire. >> I think that's Yeah. >> Yeah, it's a free speech story as well as >> Well, I was going to say, I think from from me, you know, Ed Sheeran didn't actually need to say anything. He just had to defend Macklemore's right to say that at a concert, and to continue to be his his um opening act, right? He, you know, if he had just done that, which is, you know, you know, look, I I actually, I'm not sure that everyone does have to get involved in poli- I think people may, you know, lots of people just deliberately keep themselves out of it, and you don't necessarily then want them saying something about it when they're being forced to say something when they're not knowledgeable. You might say, yeah, everybody's got to educate themselves about these important things." I think that's, you know, an important value, but like I don't think everybody does. And I think that that's that that's unchangeable in some way. Um but I think that the principal thing, if you you know, let's assume total ignorance of the situation um in Gaza, let's assume that you know, he's had his head in the sand for 3 years or he's so as you say he's so rich as God that he's insulated from the news and never have has a look. The principal thing to have done would have been to to defend the right of another artist to say what he said as his opening act and to have stood behind that principle. The right I mean and that is as an artist, you may debate whether Sheeran is an artist or not. As an artist, that is the underlying The principle that must underlying all your work, right? The right of artists to express themselves as they see as they see fit. >> Right. I mean, yeah, we can debate whether it's art or not. I don't know if anyone's ever listened to Galway Girl, but it's a real toss-up about whether it is or not. Um >> [laughter] >> but did he Did he not He knew this about Macklemore when he booked him as a support act? Like, Macklemore has not hidden this. He made Hint Hall in honor of Handala who was murdered and Hint Hall 2, which has Palestinian rappers rapping about about the genocide on it. >> I mean, you know, like maybe Ed Sheeran Ed Sheeran didn't know what it was. Maybe he thought it was just, you know, I don't know. Like maybe he's just like an idiot. I'm not trying to defend him at all. I'm just saying, you know, let's uh it it Anyway, go on. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. >> Yeah, I just think there's something really dishonest about him saying, "I'm a political. I'm not an activist artist." I find this um you know, this prefix of activist activist lawyers, activist judges, activist journalists is is very um it's it's almost a way to like degrade the thing, isn't it? It's saying, "Oh, you're not a proper thing. You just care about issues and you just want to push issues on people." But he's saying, "I'm not an activist artist." But he did take political stances when he felt that he needed to on Ukraine, on the other things that we've mentioned, supported Jeremy Corbyn. I'd forgotten about that. Sure a lot of other people had as well what as well. But I think that there's a certain flavor of anti-Palestinian racism in saying that this is a thing that he's like not going to get involved in. And in his first statement, I think it was last Wednesday, um he [clears throat] had the nerve to bring up the children that come to his concerts. Yes, children attend Ed Sheeran concerts. You know which children don't get to choose whether they get involved in politics or are exposed to politics or not. It's children in Gaza that Israel is raining bombs down on and continues to fire on with drones. 21,000 of them are dead. I Yeah, I I just I really thought that the both of his statements have dug a much much bigger hole and have really really taken the public for fools. And his his reputation as Mr. Nice Guy from the UK is permanently tarnished by this. >> I want to clarify that I don't think he is stupid. I think that the the the decision to um to make the speech that he made and also the decision not to intervene politically in any way and in fact to to um not have Macklemore's back when he did make his statement about about the genocide. I think it's all actually very cynical and it's really about, as you say, like, you know, his music is is is mass marketed schlock. And so he wants like a mass market to sell it to. Supporting Ukraine is hardly controversial amongst people who are going to buy his music. Um supporting Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 or whe- wherever it was where you couldn't go to a musical festival without doing that. So that not controversial either. Um but this is a divisive issue. Whether, you know, it shouldn't be, I agree, but just from pure commercial terms it is a divisive issue. And I suspect that was the instinct is that, you know, you don't get involved in things that are going to mess with your paycheck or your or your or your your your income stream for the album. >> I absolutely agree with that. I think there is a degree of cynicism. I think that there's there's clear thinking and decision-making here. And but when you think about the actual net worth of an individual like Ed Sheeran and how much this wouldn't have hurt him. He literally never has to work for the rest of his life. Like he could he could just make music for the love of it and like never put it anywhere. He would be absolutely fine. He has choices that none of us can even comprehend with this level of money. And yet he can stand there and both sides a genocide. We've watched it live-streamed on social media for nearly 3 years. Like it is fundamentally changed me as a person. I really do think that because of the horror the horrific things that we we've seen that Israel has perpetrated. And he could not name the perpetrator. He could not name it as as a genocide. He constantly used the passive voice in his statement. I wouldn't be surprised if Robert Kraft wrote it. Like it was so in the interest of Israel. And by not choosing a side in a genocide, you are choosing the side of the perpetrator. >> All right, Harriet. Very very strong strong powerful words there. Thank you very much. And true. I don't disagree. I don't disagree. Um thanks Harriet for joining me tonight. Thank you everyone for tuning in. Come back tomorrow for another show from 6:00 p.m. For now you've been watching Novara Media. Good night.