Ed Sheeran fans have vowed to support the star as his ‘Loop’ stadium tour faces mass cancellations from its opening lineup.
Sparking a wave of fierce loyalty, they argued he ‘shouldn’t be blamed’ after all the opening acts dropped out of his tour following Macklemore’s ‘Free Palestine’ row.
All four of his remaining support acts, Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe, and Irish folk band Beoga have pulled out of the tour in solidarity with rapper Macklemore, who was dropped by concert promoters over pro-Palestinian comments.
Macklemore was due to open for the singer at eight of the remaining ten shows on his tour in America, which continues on Friday in Philadelphia, but on Tuesday it was announced that he had been dropped.
Breaking his silence amid the backlash, Sheeran, 35, has insisted Macklemore coming off the tour was the ‘promoter’s decision’, not his.
He added his audience is often young people ‘from different backgrounds’ who do not expect his shows to be a political forum.
Myles Smith has made sure to make his support for Sheeran clear as he highlighted the recent events would not affect his relationship with the singer.
He penned: ‘Ed is not the victim here. Palestinians are. But let’s not get confused: Ed is also not the perpetrator.
‘I need to be very clear about Ed. He is my friend. Not an industry friend. A real one. And there is no pressure, no trend, no headline and no comment section that will make me turn on him or hang him out to dry.’
Replying to Myles’s statement, many fans were also keen to support Sheeran as they said that to blame the star would make him a ‘scapegoat’ for the bigger problem.
One person wrote: ‘I stand by you and I stand by Ed. He has done nothing wrong. The people condemning him have no idea what has gone on behind the scenes and even if they did they would likely still need to throw stones at him because that is easier than accepting what has happened was not his doing. Is anyone blaming the venue owners or promoters?’
Another fan added: ‘This is beautifully worded, but most importantly, is a nuanced, genuine viewpoint. Compassion, empathy and understanding has no limit; to scapegoat Ed is to miss the point entirely.’
A third commenter chimed in: ‘Thank you for defending Ed. People are blaming him for this situation when he has done more for the world than they ever will.’
A fourth said: ‘It hurts my heart to see Ed being painted as the evil in all this, thankyou Myles for showing public support for your friend when others in the industry are as always suspiciously quiet when it come to voicing theirs, we love you & we love Ed.’
