Ed Sheeran Tour Openers Walk Out After Macklemore's Sudden Removal

One artist gets pulled from a lineup, and the whole tour roster walks out in response. Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour saw a rare domino effect this week: first Macklemore was dropped, then his band and the other opening acts began publicly announcing their exits, one by one.

It all started with a statement Macklemore put out earlier this week, claiming he was pulled from the Loop Tour over his public pro-Palestine political comments, and naming a group of stadium owners led by Robert Kraft as having pressured Sheeran. Sheeran himself later put out a statement confirming he had indeed been approached by Kraft and other venue owners, but insisted the decision to drop Macklemore came from the organizers, not from him. In his statement, Sheeran said he was "heartbroken" over the Israel-Palestine conflict and that he was "not complicit" — but that attempt at "neutrality" didn't calm things down. If anything, it was read by many as taking a side.

Irish band Beoga is Sheeran's regular backing band on the Loop Tour. Shortly after Sheeran's statement, Beoga posted on Instagram announcing their withdrawal, writing: "Playing for those crowds every night has been a dream come true, but performing at a venue that silences anyone speaking up for a free Palestine isn't an option for us." The band went on to call out: "Look up how much Robert Kraft has done to fight against the BDS movement… We were there watching Macklemore perform and speak, and we fully stand behind his message, as did most of the crowd at MetLife Stadium."

FINNEAS, Billie Eilish's brother and longtime producer, also announced his exit from the tour on Instagram Tuesday afternoon. He wrote: "Artists shouldn't be silenced for speaking up for the oppressed. I stand with Palestine and its people."

Danish pop group Lukas Graham posted their exit the same day, with one line in their statement hitting especially hard: "Money doesn't give you the right to control the conversation, and no one's bank balance should decide who gets to speak or whose suffering counts." They ended the post with three watermelon emojis — an image that's become a stand-in symbol for the Palestinian flag in areas under Israeli control in recent years, since flying the Palestinian flag itself isn't allowed there.

Irish singer Aaron Rowe also announced his exit Tuesday afternoon, writing: "As Irish people, we know all too well what genocide, forced starvation, and violent occupation look like." He continued: "I can't stand by and watch a billionaire use his position of power to suppress legitimate voices speaking out against a genocide in Israel and exposing the brutal killing of children."

In the span of a single day, a backing band and three opening acts all pulled out of the same tour, all pointing to the same issue: Macklemore being dropped over his political comments, and whether Sheeran's "it wasn't my call" is enough to absolve him of responsibility.