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Jack Antonoff on Ed Sheeran and Palestine

Jack Antonoff's read on the whole Macklemore situation comes down to one thing: a promoter should never get to decide what an artist can say. Macklemore was taken off Ed Sheeran's tour over his support for Palestine, and Antonoff's response to that is blunt. Saying Free Palestine, in his words, is "not in any way a strange, uncomfortable or controversial thing to say, it's a deeply human thing to say." Think otherwise and, per Antonoff, "you're lost in some other sauce that is so crazy." His own line in the sand is simple: if someone tried to tell him what he could say, he'd rather be dropped. Don't book me, he said, and he'd play for free outside. From there he turns to Sheeran, who in his view "missed a massive, beautiful opportunity." The suggestion: cancel the whole tour, play for free outside each venue, raise a bunch of money, and skip letting a billionaire call the shots. Antonoff is clear this isn't some niche case either, since everyone lives in a world where billionaires are constantly telling them what to do. His closing message to Sheeran: "stand the f*ck up." theguardian.com/music/2026/oct/25/jack-antonoff-bleachers-in…

2h

Jgrao@Jgrao

Follow

Jack Antonoff on Ed Sheeran and Palestine

Jack Antonoff's read on the whole Macklemore situation comes down to one thing: a promoter should never get to decide what an artist can say. Macklemore was taken off Ed Sheeran's tour over his support for Palestine, and Antonoff's response to that is blunt. Saying Free Palestine, in his words, is "not in any way a strange, uncomfortable or controversial thing to say, it's a deeply human thing to say." Think otherwise and, per Antonoff, "you're lost in some other sauce that is so crazy." His own line in the sand is simple: if someone tried to tell him what he could say, he'd rather be dropped. Don't book me, he said, and he'd play for free outside. From there he turns to Sheeran, who in his view "missed a massive, beautiful opportunity." The suggestion: cancel the whole tour, play for free outside each venue, raise a bunch of money, and skip letting a billionaire call the shots. Antonoff is clear this isn't some niche case either, since everyone lives in a world where billionaires are constantly telling them what to do. His closing message to Sheeran: "stand the f*ck up." theguardian.com/music/2026/oct/25/jack-antonoff-bleachers-in…

2h