Jack Antonoff
Role at the time: Musician, songwriter and producer, leader of the band Bleachers, in a Guardian interview
Defended or excused
Statement summary
In a Guardian interview, Jack Antonoff said he feels more emboldened to say "free Palestine" onstage since Macklemore's removal and that Sheeran missed an opportunity to cancel the tour and play free fundraising shows outside each venue instead.
“They’re going to let some fucking promoter tell me what I can say? Don’t book me. I’ll play for free outside. [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.”
Open the original interview (opens in a new tab)'I'd rather live through something publicly than escape it privately': Jack Antonoff on survivor's guilt and still singing love songs after his breakup · The GuardianPassage on saying free Palestine onstage and the Ed Sheeran and Macklemore controversy
Why we used this label
The case concerns Macklemore's Free Palestine speech and his removal from Ed Sheeran's tour. Antonoff calls saying "free Palestine" a deeply human thing to say and criticizes Sheeran for accepting the removal under pressure from a stadium owner. Under this case's convention, opposing the removal is labeled as defending the speech.