Lorde has entered the Ed Sheeran tour controversy, posting a photo of herself in a handwritten“Free Palestine”jacket with Robert Kraft tagged directly. Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium and the New England Patriots, previously called Macklemore’s on-stage speech“deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”The tag makes Lorde’s position clear without a single caption.
The backstory: Macklemore was removed from Ed Sheeran’s‘Loop’tour after delivering a pro-Palestine speech on stage. Sheeran’s band and other support acts withdrew in solidarity. Macklemore then donated his $1 million in tour earnings to six organisations supporting Palestinians and announced a‘Free Palestine Tour’that sold out. Greta Thunberg, Roger Waters, Hayley Williams and Tom Morello have all publicly backed him. Sheeran said he was“not complicit”and“appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine,”later apologising for“making mistakes.”His Gillette Stadium shows were also cancelled due to severe weather warnings.
What keeps this story moving is the ripple effect. A stadium owner commented on an artist’s politics, other artists responded, and now a major pop star is naming him in a post. Where do you land on this one? Should stadium owners weigh in on what artists say on stage? Sound off below.
About the Author
Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
