Jack Antonoff Thinks Ed Sheeran’s Macklemore Controversy Was a ‘Missed Opportunity’

If you’re a musician stuck in a PR political nightmare, ask Jack Antonoff for advice. In an interview with The Guardian, Antonoff said he thinks Ed Sheeran missed a “massive, beautiful opportunity” to support free speech and Macklemore. Last month, Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft threatened to cancel Sheeran’s Loop Tour if he didn’t remove Macklemore as an opener; Macklemore had expressed his support for Gaza during his opening set, and Sheeran caved to Kraft’s demands. “If you think it is [controversial] you’re lost in some other sauce that is so crazy. 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,” Antonoff said. “The reason it’s not an anomaly or niche issue is because we all live in a world where billionaires are constantly telling us what to do. So stand the fuck up.” Sheeran’s concerts at Gillette Stadium eventually got canceled due to severe weather.

Antonoff told The Guardian he had expressed his support for Palestine well before Sheeran’s controversy but “felt way more emboldened to say it now”; he changed a lyric to a song to include “Free Palestine” at a Berkeley concert on September 17. In the interview, he added, “It’s not in any way a strange, uncomfortable or controversial thing to say, it’s a deeply human thing to say.”