Artists refuse to open for Ed Sheeran due to Macklemore's exclusion

The artists who were supposed to open for British singer Ed Sheeran as part of the Loop tour refused to participate in the concerts. The Guardian writes about this.

The reason for their decision was the exclusion of rapper Macklemore from the tour after his public statements in support of Palestine. As Sheeran noted, he tried to resolve the situation, but the tour organizers demanded in an ultimatum form that Macklemore be removed from the list of participants. After this, the Danish group Lukas Graham, the Irish group Beoga, the Irish singer Aaron Rowe and the brother of American singer Billie Eilish, singer and composer Finneas O'Connell, refused to participate in the concerts.

Sheeran himself, who had previously openly supported the Ukrainian Armed Forces, made a statement on social networks in which he refused to make political statements about the conflict between Israel and Palestine for fear of upsetting some of his fans.

“My audience includes young people and children from different backgrounds. Those who come to my speeches do not expect to get to a political forum. If we focus only on loud slogans, nothing will ever change,” Ed wrote.

In April 2022, Sheeran recorded a joint track with Ukrainian musicians and shot a video, the proceeds from which were used to help Ukraine. In August 2022, the Ukrainian band performed at Sheeran’s concert in Poland.