Aaron Rowe Defends Sheeran But Drops Out of Tour — SkimNews
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- Aaron Rowe defended Ed Sheeran in an Instagram video, calling the dropping of Macklemore 'human f*cking error' and urging the public to focus anger on Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium.
- Ed Sheeran dropped Macklemore from his Loop Tour on Monday after Kraft assembled several tour venues and issued an ultimatum over Macklemore's pro-Palestine onstage remarks.
- Sheeran released a statement blaming 'the promoter's decision,' not his own choice, for pulling Macklemore from the tour.
- Aaron Rowe, along with fellow openers Finneas and Lukas Graham and Sheeran's backing band Beoga, dropped out of the tour following Sheeran's statement.
- Rowe argued Sheeran couldn't be a 'zionist' because all of his openers were pro-Palestine, and separately called out the Irish government's role in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
- Rowe urged the public to 'plaster Robert Kraft's face everywhere' as someone who 'tried to shut down free speech' and silence voices speaking about 'the genocide that is happening in Palestine right now, by Israel.'
Why it matters: The walkout by Rowe, Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Beoga — even after Rowe publicly absolved Sheeran's character — demonstrates that touring artists and crews now treat acquiescence to venue owners' political demands as grounds for refusing to perform, raising the reputational cost for stadium acts that buckle under donor pressure on Israel-Palestine.
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