Ms. Rachel goes after Ed Sheeran over Macklemore — and he’s firing back

BS BULLETIN:

Children’s YouTube superstar Ms. Rachel accused Ed Sheeran of “caving” after Macklemore was dropped from the remaining U.S. dates of Sheeran’s tour.
Macklemore’s removal followed backlash over his pro-Palestinian statements during performances at MetLife Stadium.
Sheeran says the decision wasn’t his and that he spent days trying unsuccessfully to broker a compromise with venues and promoters.

The latest celebrity to come after Ed Sheeran over the Macklemore controversy probably isn’t who he expected.

Ms. Rachel.

Rachel Accurso, the enormously popular children’s YouTube personality better known to millions of parents and toddlers as Ms. Rachel, blasted Sheeran after Macklemore was removed from the remaining U.S. dates of his Loop Tour.

Macklemore had used his opening performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to advocate for Palestinians, declaring “Free Palestine” and performing his protest song “Hind’s Hall.”

That generated backlash, including objections from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium, where Sheeran is scheduled to perform later this month.

Ms. Rachel wasn’t impressed with how things ended.

“He had an opportunity to show that we won’t be bullied into punishing people for supporting Palestine,” she wrote. “Instead he caved.”

She went considerably further. “Silence during a genocide is not neutral,” Accurso wrote, while arguing that Palestinian children’s lives were being treated differently from children elsewhere in the world.

She also contrasted Sheeran’s current position with his previous support for Ukraine. “Ed Sheeran is making a political statement to his fans when he does a concert to support Ukraine, but considers Palestine too dangerous and political,” she wrote Tuesday.

Sheeran says he didn’t fire Macklemore. After the criticism exploded, Sheeran issued a lengthy statement Tuesday saying venues hosting upcoming concerts had told the tour they would pull the shows if Macklemore remained. Sheeran said he personally spoke with venue representatives, Kraft, promoters and activists on both sides in an attempt to find a solution.

It didn’t work.

“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,” Sheeran wrote. He said Macklemore’s contract was with the promoter and argued that canceling the shows would hurt fans, crew members, musicians and other support acts who depended on the tour for work. Sheeran also rejected the suggestion that declining to turn his concerts into political forums meant he didn’t care about the war. “I am not complicit,” he wrote.

Sheeran said his audiences include children and people from many different backgrounds who don’t attend his concerts expecting a political forum. “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,” he said.

Kraft has defended his own decision. He said Macklemore’s recent conduct, material displayed during his performances and what Kraft characterized as a history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery crossed the line for Gillette Stadium. Kraft also stressed that supporting Palestinians and opposing antisemitism and Hamas “should not be mutually exclusive,” and offered to sit down with Macklemore.

Macklemore disputes the characterization of his advocacy and says criticizing Israel is not criticism of Jewish people. So what started with two words shouted from a concert stage has now produced Macklemore versus stadium owners, Macklemore versus Kraft, Ms. Rachel versus Sheeran — and Sheeran insisting everybody has the wrong guy.

Somewhere, a toddler just wants to know what sound the cow makes.