Jack Antonoff says Ed Sheeran should have just canceled his tour after Macklemore was kicked off, rather than letting a billionaire dictate his choices on stage.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Antonoff stated that speaking out about Palestine is a basic human obligation, saying he “felt way more emboldened to say it now.”
“Because it's not in any way a strange, uncomfortable or controversial thing to say, it's a deeply human thing to say,” the Bleachers frontman told the British newspaper. “If you think it is [controversial] you're lost in some other sauce that is so crazy. They're going to let some fucking promoter tell me what I can say? Don't book me. I'll play for free outside.”
He continued, "[Ed Sheeran] missed a massive, beautiful opportunity there: just cancel the whole fucking tour, then play for free outside each venue, raise a bunch of money, rather than let a fucking billionaire tell you what to do. The reason it's not an anomaly or niche issue is because we all live in a world where billionaires are constantly telling us what to do. So stand the fuck up."
Macklemore, who was an opening act for Sheeran’s Loop Tour, was removed from the tour following his on-stage speech calling for a free Palestine at a performance at MetLife Stadium in September, following pressure from Patriots owner Robert Kraft. In the aftermath of the rapper’s removal, Finneas and others set to open up for Sheeran’s future performances dropped out of the tour.
During his recent concert at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheater, Macklemore doubled down on his stance about Palestine.
"Being a human being in this moment is not complicated," Macklemore said on Thursday (Oct. 22), per footage from the performance. "It is not political. It is human to have a heart, to watch others suffering and to say, 'Not anymore!' So I say, free Palestine."
"I say, free Sudan. I say, free Congo, Lebanon, to Haiti, to all the people that are affected by ICE in America, who are afraid to leave their houses," he added.
