Ed Sheeran’s tour has been hit by a major shake-up after four of his opening acts—Finneas O’Connell, Aaron Rowe, Beoga and Lukas Graham—announced their departures following the removal of Macklemore from the remaining North American dates. The artists publicly expressed support for Macklemore after the rapper’s removal, with their exits adding another layer to the ongoing dispute surrounding his comments at a recent concert. Sheeran has said that removing Macklemore was the promoter’s decision rather than his own.
via HUFFPOST:
On Tuesday, four of the Grammy winner’s opening acts for his Loop Tour dropped out of the lineup in protest after rapper Macklemore was removed as an opener for his pro-Palestine comments onstage.
Billie Eilish’s brother Finneas O’Connell, Irish musician Aaron Rowe, the Irish band Beoga, and Danish band Lukas Graham all published statements on their respective Instagram accounts that they are quitting Sheeran’s tour. They also made it abundantly clear that they support Palestine and reject New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft for orchestrating a campaign to silence the “Thrift Shop” rapper.
Macklemore said in a statement Monday that Kraft rallied other stadium owners to ban his performances at their venues. Kraft confirmed to TMZ that he had objected to Macklemore performing in his stadium.
