Ed Sheeran Faces Backlash Over Macklemore Removal and Gaza Response Ed Sheeran dropped Macklemore from his US tour after stadium owner Robert Kraft's ultimatum over a Free Palestine remark, sparking protests and online backlash. Ed Sheeran is facing widespread backlash after removing support act Macklemore from his US tour following an ultimatum from stadium owners over a Free Palestine remark. The dispute unfolded during Sheeran's massive US tour, with protests expected at his show at Robert Kraft's Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts on Tuesday night. Macklemore Remark and Stadium UltimatumMacklemore, one of Sheeran's support acts, told a stadium audience the words Free Palestine during a performance. Some stadium owners, including billionaire Robert Kraft, viewed the remark as hate speech and objected to it.The situation was further complicated by a photograph taken 12 years ago, in which the rapper appeared with a large prosthetic nose and a beard. Many viewed the image as an anti-Semitic caricature, and Macklemore later apologised for it.Stadium owners then gave Sheeran a direct choice: drop Macklemore or lose access to their venues. Sheeran chose to remove the support act, reasoning that this was better than disappointing hundreds of thousands of fans and the many people employed by the tour.Sheeran Apology and Online BacklashDuring his performance in Philadelphia on Saturday night, Sheeran apologised and denounced the violence on both sides. He cried as he explained that his actions had led to him being abandoned by members of his family.The apology failed to calm the criticism. Sheeran was accused of sitting on the fence and of making the crisis in Gaza about himself rather than the people affected by it.He has since lost almost half a million followers on Instagram, dropping to 47 million. Protests are expected when he performs at Kraft's Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts on Tuesday night.A Wider Pattern of Public PressureThe reaction has drawn comparisons to schoolyard bullying, in which a person is attacked regardless of what they do. The writer recalled a primary school classmate named Michael in south London in the late 1980s, who was bullied for having red hair and not supporting Liverpool.When Michael switched his support to Liverpool, his classmates called him spineless and beat him again. The lesson was that the abuse was never really about football, but about the insecurities of those inflicting it.The writer said they received vaguely threatening social media messages a couple of years ago after not using their platform to speak about Gaza. The messages called them a grifter and said they were being put on a list, although the writer never learned what the list was or whether it was ever compiled.Empathy and the Limits of CancellingThe central argument against Sheeran appears to be that anyone with a platform has a responsibility to use it for good. The writer argued that this reasoning has turned social media into a playground with no teachers, where everyone is invited to join in.The writer said there is a case for directing anger at Robert Kraft, a billionaire working to stifle free speech. But tearing into Sheeran, described as a man so inoffensive he makes Chris Martin look dynamic, is both insane and cruel.Sheeran's music is gentle acoustic pop, and cancelling him for sitting on the fence is compared to trying to cancel the Pope for being Catholic. The writer concluded that threatening people helps nobody, least of all the children in Gaza who are still starving, still dying, and still at the mercy of brutal leaders.