Comment on Ed Sheeran’s latest foot in the mouth moment…
REDACTED@infosec.pub 16 hours agoYou do realize he’s not the one who did the ultimatum against Macklemore, right? There was no way he was going to continue. Ed’s two options were cancel the tour and pay the dude (who supports genocide) 70 or so millions of dollars, or just finish the thing.
You do realize ed absolutely had the power to stand with Macklemore. He chose not to. Ed chose to support the genocide.
Macklemore is being nice, as friends generally are.
Ed Sheeran could not play this entire tour, and live the rest of his life financially stable and then have wealth leftover for his family’s family.
Dude who doesn’t even need it, chose the genocide.
I’m not buying this bullshit anymore. Human lives over money, every single time.
How the fuck is an artist playing music = supporting genocide? How is refraining from political statements = taking sides? How is organizing a tour with Pro-Palestine people = being a complete wanker? Lefties, u ok?
Again, claiming to not take a side when we can all see with our eyes that genocide is taking place, is in fact taking a side.
Ignoring something IS a stance, I hate to be the one to apparently burst this bubble for you, but you can’t just opt out of life and claim things don’t matter to you.
You’re giving me the “I don’t do politics and that’s fine” argument.
Politicians literally dictate our entire lives and silence in the face of political injustice isn’t JUST a stance, it’s downright cowardice.
It’s like with Russians and zionists where “if you’re not with us, you’re against us”.
“things don’t matter to you” does not equal apolitism or nonpartisanship. Artists who refrain from politics or speaking on geopolitical matters were historically regarded as more respectful. Each time I saw one doing it, wave of people commented “maybe celebrities should not do political speeches”.
“How is refraining from political statements = taking sides”
It doesn’t have to be taking sides. It is just not a good behaviour.
Imagine someone is walking in the street and another person is killing a child. Is it taking sides to walk by and not even call the police? Maybe not, but it sure as hell is a horrible behaviour. Imagine now this person who does nothing is actually a prominent kid books’ author. That is Ed in a nutshell.
He’s an artist. I think you really need to understand what that means. Some inspire with action, some with protests, others with riots, someone else by offing some health insurance CEO, and then there are some who inspire people with songs. You objectively cannot tell me he does harm.
I’m sure you expected to do spy shit when you joined the CIA, instead you’re here, claiming that Lemmy made you a centrist.
…what? Spy shit? CIA? Yeah, many of you are still crazy.
It’s true that he was in a corner and there was no easy way out, and I’m sure Macklemore never wanted to put him in that position. He still made the wrong choice though.
He could have dug his heels in and defied Kraft, maybe cancel the tour, whatever it takes. If it cost him 70 million, he can afford that, but given the unreasonable basis of Kraft’s demands, I expect there’s a legal case to be fought there. He would have had a lot of support, and it would have been a public disgrace for Kraft. Sometimes you just need to grow a spine and do what’s right. Money isn’t everything.
I do feel some sympathy for Ed Sheeran. He just wanted to do music and not be in the political spotlight. And when it comes to punishing people for complying with injustice, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. But I am glad of the conversation it has sparked. When the time comes to not comply, we need to recognize that moment, and we also need to recognize what it means to say “I don’t do politics”.
Avicenna@programming.dev 13 hours ago
Speak against genocide live on stage? Bash Kraft to the ground live on stage for what he did? Roll a list of brand shares that he has and tell people to boycott them? Declare live on stage that some portion of the concert revenue will be used to support Palestine aid groups? With any of these Kraft would have lost. With the meek response that Ed has given, Kraft has gotten away with what he did. No consequences is how you don’t get peace.