No statement, no interview—Hayley Williams let a setlist do the talking. Ahead of her September 17 (Wednesday) solo show "The Hayley Williams Show" at Forest Hills Stadium in New York, her opening playlist featured six tracks: Macklemore's "Can't Hold Us" and "Thrift Shop," Lukas Graham's "Mama Said," FINNEAS' "For Cryin' Out Loud," Aaron Rowe's "The Lane," and Beoga's "Aurora II." Every single one of these artists and backing musicians had recently withdrawn from Ed Sheeran's "Loop" tour as openers.
The whole saga started when Macklemore made pro-Palestine remarks while opening for Sheeran at Gillette Stadium in New Jersey. Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft quickly responded, calling the comments "deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community," which led to Macklemore's removal from the tour. In the wake of that decision, Sheeran's entire opening lineup and backing band walked out in solidarity—FINNEAS, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe, and Beoga all publicly voiced their support for Macklemore. More recent Sheeran openers BIIRD and Myles Smith have also taken a stand: BIIRD stated "we stand unreservedly behind everything Macklemore said," while Smith described what Palestinians are going through as "heartbreaking and impossible to look away from."
Williams had previously reposted a Story mocking the way Sheeran handled the response, written in the voice of a celebrity PR statement: "Hey everyone, I'm seeing all the atrocities happening and I want you to know that I'm keeping the conversation open by saying nothing at all. I am a role model (product), and it's important I don't let my young fans (investors and shareholders) down—after all, my shows matter more than politics. They're business." The post was reshared by a Brazilian Paramore fan account, complete with translated screenshots that circulated in languages other than Chinese.
Sheeran himself responded by saying he is "not complicit" and that he is "deeply shaken" by the Israel-Palestine conflict, calling the suffering on both sides a "tragedy." Since the controversy broke, he's lost over 200,000 Instagram followers, while Macklemore has gained more than 1.6 million in the opposite direction. The music world hasn't stayed quiet either—Pink Floyd's Roger Waters publicly called Sheeran a "creep" and praised Macklemore for "doing the right thing," while Massive Attack remarked that "'neutrality' can never be neutral in the face of over 20,000 children being slaughtered." As of now, Sheeran has not responded to the mass walkout from his opening lineup or to these public comments. Meanwhile, Macklemore has donated the entire $1 million he earned from the tour to Palestine, and Kraft has pledged an additional $2 million to "help the region."
