U2 is revealing where the band stands in the Macklemore, Ed Sheeran controversy.
Speaking to BBC News over the weekend, the Irish rock band addressed Macklemore being booted off Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour in September after the former called for a “Free Palestine” on stage at the MetLife Stadium.
U2’s The Edge noted the band members “totally support Macklemore’s right as an artist to say what he wanted to say” but emphasised that Sheeran shouldn’t be “vilified.”
READ MORE: Ed Sheeran drops Macklemore from ‘Loop Tour’
Drummer Larry Mullen Jr. observed that the underlying issue is censorship.
“Artists have a right to choose whether they want to be politically active or not. It’s a human right,” he noted. “But we as a band will fight for the right to speak your mind as long as it doesn’t incite violence. And even if we disagree with it or don’t like it, nobody has a right — no billionaire, no promoter, no owner — has the right to censor anybody. They will definitely not be censoring us ever.”
After Macklemore was dropped from the North American leg of the Loop Tour, Sheeran issued a lengthy statement, in which he clarified that “Macklemore coming off the tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.”
He further explained why he does not use his professional platform for politics: “My audience includes young people, often children, of all backgrounds. Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum.”
Sheeran went ahead with the tour despite losing all of his opening acts, including Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, and even his backing band Beoga.
Meanwhile, Macklemore has since played three sold-out Free Palestine benefit concerts in Dublin, Paris, and London. He has yet to bring the concerts to the US, claiming that major arenas are blocking him from doing so.
READ MORE: Macklemore claims ‘nine major American arenas’ have turned him down
