Alan Kelly
Role at the time: TD, Labour Party (Ireland)
Defended or excused
Statement summary
Alan Kelly accused Sheeran of prioritizing commercial interests over his friendship with Macklemore.
“thrown his friend under the bus in favor of commerciality”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Ireland Disowns Ed Sheeran Over Macklemore Stance (Newsweek)
Newsweek report on Irish political and cultural figures publicly distancing themselves from Ed Sheeran over Macklemore's removal from his tour.
Why we used this label
On Macklemore's conduct in giving the speech, Kelly does not criticize Macklemore at all. By accusing Sheeran of throwing Macklemore "under the bus" for commercial reasons, Kelly implicitly defends Macklemore's conduct as not warranting the response it received.