Rhiannon Giddens says Ed Sheeran is "folding" instead of using his power
Rhiannon GiddensMusician, interviewed on Democracy Now!
Musician Rhiannon Giddens, interviewed on Democracy Now!, said it was not a surprise that Macklemore spoke in support of Palestinians given his history, and that Ed Sheeran should have anticipated it when he hired him. She said Sheeran has power as a wealthy, famous musician that he is not using, calling his decision to remove Macklemore "folding," and said that for her the decision would not have been difficult. She said Sheeran has the right to make that choice but the public has the right to hold him accountable for it, and argued attention should also go to Robert Kraft as the person who organized the pressure behind the removal.
“What is at issue for me is that when you hire somebody like Macklemore, who's been very pro-Palestinian in his... this is not a surprise, right? It shouldn't be a surprise. [...] I'm still just like, we're like, these people are not gods. You know what I mean? And they're fallible human beings. And it's like, he hires all these Irish people, and then Macklemore, and then is like, I don't know. It's just like, well, I don't know what he was expecting, you know? [...] As a musician, I'm very interested in that, because I'm like, you have power there. Why are you not using that power, right? He's folding. [...] For me, it wasn't a difficult decision. [...] If it doesn't direct the attention to Robert Kraft and if it doesn't direct the attention to the people who actually have the power who are doing these things, that's -- then it's for naught.”
Original post
Where this statement fits
Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” speech and removal from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour
At two Ed Sheeran concerts at MetLife Stadium, Macklemore called for a free Palestine, accused Israel of apartheid and genocide, and said criticism of Israel was not criticism of Jewish people. After venue objections, tour promoter Messina Touring Group said he would not perform the remaining U.S. Loop Tour dates. Critics characterized the performance as hostile or inappropriate; Macklemore defended it as a call for equal treatment.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Segment of a Democracy Now! interview with musician Rhiannon Giddens, posted to X on September 18, 2026. Giddens also discusses Aaron Rowe's and Beoga's withdrawals and Robert Kraft's role, and says Ed Sheeran has every right to do whatever he wants while maintaining that the public may still hold him accountable for the choice. The quoted wording is our transcription of the video; the X caption alone does not capture the substance of her remarks on Sheeran and Kraft specifically.
Before the quotation
Host Amy Goodman had just described Aaron Rowe's and Beoga's withdrawals from the tour and read Rowe's statement invoking Ireland's history of famine and occupation, before asking Giddens for her reaction.
After the quotation
Giddens went on to argue that the public should not rely on celebrities to take moral stands for them and should direct scrutiny toward Robert Kraft, whom she described as organizing the pressure on other stadium owners to exclude Macklemore.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Giddens treats the speech itself as unsurprising and unobjectionable given Macklemore's known history, and frames the removal as a failure by Sheeran to use his power responsibly, which is a defence of the conduct under scrutiny and a rejection of the removal. The closest competing label is “Mixed or conditional”, since she says Sheeran "has every right to do whatever he wants." That loses because acknowledging his legal or practical latitude to make the choice is not itself an endorsement of the choice; she immediately adds that the public retains the right to hold him accountable, and the substantive weight of the passage is critical of the decision throughout. This is consistent with how we recorded Philip DeFranco's criticism of Sheeran (1009) on this same case.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Ed Sheeran, Robert Kraft
More from this case
Read the full caseMacklemore says the "billionaire class" should not decide "which voices are allowed on stage"
“What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage. When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention. So we're going on tour. All proceeds will benefit organizations supporting the Palestinian people and movement.”Read statement
Jewish Voice for Peace says the backlash to Macklemore's removal shows support for pro-Palestine speech
Jewish Voice for Peace
“Two years into Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine organizing, the backlash against Sheeran shows how little patience Americans have for attacks on pro-Palestine speech. It also demonstrates the shift toward support for Palestinian rights among everyday Americans that our movements have helped propel.”Read statement
Macklemore announces "Free Palestine Tour" after removal from U.S. dates
“To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Rhiannon Giddens says Ed Sheeran is "folding" instead of using his power
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/1019-musician-rhiannon-giddens-interviewed-on-democracy-now-said
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Rhiannon Giddens says Ed Sheeran is "folding" instead of using his power". First published: 2026-09-18. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/1019-musician-rhiannon-giddens-interviewed-on-democracy-now-said