Jonathan Harounoff says a guest performer should not use Ed Sheeran's audience for a one-sided take
Author and journalist writing a signed opinion column
“there is a difference between an artist's own convictions seeping through his or her own music and a guest performer using someone else's massive audience to deliver a reductive, one-sided take on one of the most contested conflicts in the most turbulent region in the world. Audiences paid for an Ed Sheeran masterclass, not for a lecture on the Middle East or an anti-Israel rally.”
Source and context
Analysis
About this source
Signed opinion column in The Jewish Chronicle. The byline note identifies Harounoff as an award-winning British author and journalist and Israel's former international spokesperson at the United Nations.
Before the quotation
Harounoff was answering the argument, raised by defenders of the set, that musicians from Billie Eilish to Bono and Bob Dylan have used their platforms politically and that concerts are seldom neutral spaces. He granted that point before drawing his distinction.
After the quotation
He went on to quote an open letter to Sheeran from an Iranian fan who wrote that the MetLife stage had been turned into a platform for division, and closed by saying he hoped Sheeran was thinking about what his next show would look like.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” speech and removal from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Writing about the MetLife set, Harounoff rejects the performance as a reductive and one-sided use of another artist's platform. He criticises the conduct under scrutiny rather than disputing what was said.
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Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” speech and removal from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour
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