Ed Sheeran And Robert Kraft Put Blood On The Moolah!

The tour could be over.

Most of the opening acts are pulling away from Ed Sheeran. Other venues are pulling from Gillette Stadium. Many are calling for boycotting Sheeran, P!NK and Robert Kraft.

Yearly wrap up.

Sheeran was given an ultimatum. They told him to dump rapper Macklemore or you're not welcomed at any stadium venue.

Sheeran took the low road and the backlash came fresh.

The asshole from the Anti-Defamation League reacts to the news of Macklemore being dropped.

Jonathan Greenblatt wrote: "Glad to see Macklemore off Ed Sheeran's tour ... For years, Macklemore has pushed antisemitic tropes and demonized Israel and Israelis. Now he certainly has the [First Amendment] right to speak out and express his views, but demonizing Jews and Israelis shouldn't be rewarded."

Aaron Rowe, Finneas, and Lukas Graham, all the remaining opening acts for the tour, as well as Irish band Beoga, who had joined as his backing band for a segment of the show, announced on September 15th that they were dropping out of the remaining tour dates in solidarity. Several acts who had opened for Sheeran prior to Macklemore's opening at MetLife Stadium, including Myles Smith, Amble and BIIRD, have come out with support for Macklemore and the people of Palestine.

Sheeran his team removed Macklemore as a supporting act from Sheeran's Loop Tour after Macklemore's onstage "free Palestine" statements during two performances in New Jersey. The removal came after pressure from venue owners, including the American pro-Israel businessman Robert Kraft. After this decision, all the remaining opening acts for the tour—including Aaron Rowe, Finneas, and Lukas Graham, as well as Irish band Beoga—withdrew in solidarity with Macklemore and the Palestinian people.

Macklemore announced his removal from the tour in an Instagram post nearly 1,000 words long. He said it came after a week of "difficult conversations" with Sheeran that ended "in a place of fundamental disagreement." 

In his statement, Macklemore said: "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." 

Macklemore said that Sheeran had told him Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium, had barred him from performing there and persuaded other stadium owners to issue a similar ultimatum. Macklemore criticized Sheeran for not taking a stance on Gaza, writing: "Taking a side can cost you. Money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access. I've lost all of those things. But there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.

More Americans hate billionaires.

On September 16, Macklemore announced in an Instagram post that he would donate $1 million, his entire net earnings from Sheeran's tour to six organizations supporting Palestinians: the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, Anera, and the UNRWA USA National Committee.

He said he wanted to "bring the conversation back where it belongs," writing, "Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protection. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any life on this earth." 

Macklemore challenged Kraft to match the donation.

In his statement, Macklemore said he wanted to "center the parents carrying their children into hospitals without the basic resources to treat them, and the physicians, paramedics, journalists and aid workers who keep going back in," as well as "the organizers and activists who have paid real costs for standing with Palestine," whose risk he said was "of a far different order than mine."

He described donating money as "one of the least costly forms of solidarity" available to him, saying he was doing so because the recipient organizations were "doing the work while much of the world debates it."

Macklemore added that "aid alone cannot address the conditions that make it necessary," calling the situation in Gaza and the West Bank "a manmade injustice" requiring "immediate political change."

He also referenced the death of 15-year-old Muhammad al-Zinati, whom he said was killed in an Israeli strike on September 15 while attempting to help an injured aid worker.

The Washington Times reported that Kraft has donated tens of millions of dollars to organizations combating antisemitism, including more than $20 million to the "Stand Up to Jewish Hate" campaign, and similarly to Rolling Stone noted that a spokesman for Kraft declined to comment on Macklemore's invitation to match the donation.

The outlet also noted that, separate from Macklemore's claim that Kraft organized a pressure campaign among venue owners, several venues independently notified the tour's promoter that they would not host a show with Macklemore on the bill, and that Kraft had not addressed whether he had personally organized that pressure.

Do not underestimate the power of protest.

Hours after Macklemore's statement, Robert Kraft released a statement in which he spoke of his long fight against antisemitism, agreed with Macklemore on the suffering of the Palestinians, evoked the responsibility of Hamas, invited Macklemore to meet, and said they had "peace for all people" as a common goal.

In his statement Kraft said: "Much of my time and attention for the last decade has been focused on the fight against antisemitism and hate of all kinds, and I feel a responsibility to stand up when I believe that line has been crossed." 

Kraft added that "This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf," and that, "Their pain and loss is real." 

Kraft argued that support for Palestinians "should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas, a United States and globally … designated terrorist organization whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering for Palestinians and Israelis alike."

Kraft added, "I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same — peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate."

According to Adam Reilly for WGBH, "Kraft did not dispute Macklemore’s claims" and "seemed to allude to Macklemore’s 2014 performance in a costume that was widely regarded as antisemitic in explaining Kraft’s actions." Kraft's statement did not address whether or not he had lobbied other stadium owners.

Colin Kaepernick, a former National Football League player known for kneeling during the US national anthem in protest of systemic racism in the U.S., said NFL owners "are openly colluding" against Macklemore.

Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, which is home to one of the largest Arab communities in the United States, invited Macklemore to perform at a concert sponsored by the city.