Jack Antonoff Criticizes Ed Sheeran for Bowing to a Billionaire in Macklemore Tour Controversy, Saying ‘Stand the F–k Up’

Jack Antonoff said Ed Sheeran should have pushed back on the removal of Macklemore from the Loop Tour, and that saying “Free Palestine” should not be considered controversial. He made the comments in an interview with The Guardian published Sunday (Oct. 25).

Sheeran drew controversy when Macklemore was fired as an opener on the tour. The decision came after billionaire Robert Kraft rallied other stadium owners to forbid Sheeran from performing at their venues unless the rapper exited the bill. Of the “Free Palestine” sentiment, Antonoff said, “If you think it is [controversial] you’re lost in some other sauce that is so crazy.”

“They’re going to let some f–king promoter tell me what I can say?” Antonoff continued. “Don’t book me. I’ll play for free outside. [Sheeran] missed a massive, beautiful opportunity there: Just cancel the whole f–king tour, then play for free outside each venue, raise a bunch of money, rather than let a f–king billionaire tell you what to do … Stand the f–k up.”

Billboard has reached out to Sheeran’s rep for comment.

Antonoff has voiced support for Palestinians throughout the past three years of extreme violence in Gaza. Since the Loop Tour controversy, he added, he has “felt way more emboldened to say it now, because it’s not in any way a strange, uncomfortable or controversial thing to say.”

Messina Touring Group, the U.S. promoter for the tour, announced in mid-September that it had dismissed Macklemore from the supporting lineup. The move followed upset over his “Free Palestine” onstage demonstrations at two shows in New Jersey. Sheeran said at the time that he had tried to find alternative solutions in discussions with Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium, and other venue owners before the promoter’s decision. He ultimately chose to continue the tour without Macklemore.

“There is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace,” Sheeran wrote at the time of his choice to stay out of politics. “I choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed.”

Macklemore later announced that he had donated the $1 million he earned on his short-lived Loop Tour run to Palestinian aid. Sheeran and Kraft then both pledged money to unspecified humanitarian efforts in Gaza. Macklemore also set plans for a “Free Palestine” benefit tour.

Antonoff has also criticized certain power players in the live music industry for years. Last year, in a conversation with Hayley Williams in Rolling Stone, he blasted large corporations such as Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, for trying to “monopolize the whole f–king thing.”

“Live Nation keep missing the point,” he elaborated to The Guardian. “Every time I say something, they’ll call my people and say: ‘Let’s have a meeting.’ You don’t get it, I don’t want to f–king talk to you people. I want to make it clear that I’m not f–king OK with you turning the most sacred thing [in] the world into some weird free-market piece of s–t.”

Billboard has reached out to Live Nation for comment.

Source: Billboard