Finian Cunningham
Sheeran's "solidarity" is with consumers and corporate marketing.
Trust gnarly rock legend Roger Waters to make the distinction unmistakably clear. The U.S. rap singer Macklemore has stood up for the right thing, noted Waters, while English pop balladeer Ed Sheeran is just a commercial "prick".
That's how the former Pink Floyd member and renowned songwriter put it in his typically acerbic style, in a social media post this week.
Both Macklemore and Sheeran would claim to be music artists. But as veteran rocker Waters discerns, artists are defined by what they stand for and what they say, not by how much money is in their banks or how many fans they appear to have.
Waters weighed in on the controversy that's blown up this week over Sheeran's U.S. concert tour following the cancellation of Macklemore by a billionaire stadium owner who is a major Zionist supporter. Billionaire Robert Kraft not only makes huge donations to promote the Israeli regime, but he also has a history of closing down public criticism of the regime's crimes. He also happens to be a member of the Epstein class, having been a friend of the late pedophile and Mossad asset, Jeffrey Epstein.
American hip-hop artist Macklemore has consistently voiced his support for Palestinian people and condemned the Israeli state for genocide. One of his songs, Hind's Hall, highlighted the murder of a five-year-old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, by the Israeli military. She was cut to pieces with Israeli bullets while stranded alone in a car surrounded by dead relatives. He has gained a lot of respect and following for his principled stance.
During a concert earlier this month, Macklemore addressed the crowd with the words, "Free Palestine".
That resulted in Kraft, the billionaire owner of a forthcoming venue, demanding that Ed Sheeran, the main act on the tour, drop Macklemore.
Sheeran is one of the biggest-selling singer-songwriters in recent years with a global following. Despite his popularity, his music has been derided by critics as "pop slop," easy-listening, banal ballads. Why he asked Macklemore to join him on the tour is a good question, knowing the latter's strident condemnation of Israel's genocide. Perhaps Sheeran thought the inclusion of the rapper on the bill would boost ticket sales given how the Palestinian cause and criticism of Israel have become salient issues for American students and youth, as in Europe, too, and indeed all around the world.
The backlash has been fierce. Other supporting acts have also quit the tour in solidarity with Macklemore. At this late stage, it looks as if Sheeran will have to go solo for the remaining concert dates across the U.S.
By not standing up for Macklemore and joining the other acts in solidarity, Sheeran looks like a corporate shill, a pathetic non-entity.
Sheeran has lost millions of fans in an outpouring of contempt for what is seen as his cowardly "sitting on the fence". The pop crooner has attempted to make out that it wasn't his decision to cancel Macklemore and that he had no choice in the face of demands by the concert promoters. But millions of people can see through the abject pretence of Sheeran's mealey-mouth claims to be non-political.
Roger Waters' scorn puts the issue into harsh but clear focus. When a genocide is so well known and documented as in the case of Israel's crimes in Gaza, there are no excuses for being neutral or "non-political." You either take a stand against genocide or you are complicit in your silence.
The Sheeran controversy has helped highlight the issue of free speech and the increasing lack of it in Western states.
Across the United States and Europe, governments and wealthy lobbies for Israel have been shutting down and prosecuting anyone who speaks out in defense of Palestinian rights and in condemnation of the genocide in Gaza.
A ludicrous situation has emerged whereby protests against genocide are being repressed in Western states, states that proclaim to uphold free speech and human rights.
Billionaire Zionists like Robert Kraft, who openly support the Israeli regime, have the political and economic power to sanction universities and protests with the fraudulent claim that any condemnation of Israeli crimes is "anti-Semitism."
It is an eye-opener as to the nature of Western governments. U.S. President Donald Trump, who is bankrolled by Zionist wealth, can this week approve the supply of 40,000 heavy bombs to Israel amid a genocide, and do it without any criticism in the mainstream media. Germany's government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz can approve €800 million in new weapons for Israel while German police arrest anyone who speaks out against the mass killing of Palestinian children.
Artists like Macklemore are true artists. They are people, like Roger Waters himself, who bravely stand up for truth, against oppression, and with those who are oppressed regardless of the personal consequences. Waters has long championed the cause of Palestinians and, as a consequence, has seen his concerts being cancelled and his reputation slandered with the bogus label of "anti-Semite".
Then there are so-called artists like Ed Sheeran who seem to only care about one thing: making more and more as a commercial product.
Such people have no soul befitting artists. They are commodities who thrive in the corporate cesspool by playing a cynical game of sitting on a turd and appearing to be above not wanting to offend anyone, lest it damage their financial net worth.
Sheeran is an odious specimen of a human being who sells his soul solely for fame and fortune. He has no principle or genuine pathos that an artist should demonstrate out of love for other human beings suffering injustice and oppression. His "solidarity" is with consumers and corporate marketing.
By the way, the "unpolitical" Sheeran had no problems giving a concert in 2022 to raise funds for the NeoNazi cause in Ukraine.
One of his hits was a song called Perfect, which is an apt refrain for his outing now as an unprincipled con artist and apologist for genocide.
He would do well to reflect on Roger Waters' song Us and Them from 1973, condemning war and the debasement of human beings. But then again, it is doubtful whether the likes of Schmaltzy Sheeran would ever get it.
In any case, such zombie "artists" are irrelevant. Truth, justice, humanity, and real art will always live on.