{"id":6607,"date":"2026-09-17T18:13:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T16:13:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/?p=6607"},"modified":"2026-09-17T20:01:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T18:01:45","slug":"ed-sheeran-pimped-billionaires-genocide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/2026-09-17\/ed-sheeran-pimped-billionaires-genocide\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran just learnt: Being pimped by the billionaires for genocide is a bad look"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"We must keep prising the fingers of the billionaire class off our throats until it is only the discredited, and morally bankrupt, who refuse to speak loudly in opposition to genocide<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It is hard not to be excited at the very public shaming of a major celebrity, pop star Ed Sheeran, over his agreement to remove a friend and support act, Macklemore, from his current US tour. During his set, Macklemore spoke out eloquently against Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n

This feels like a very belated turning-point. During the three years of Israel\u2019s atrocities in Gaza, the corporate world has maintained its grip over the West\u2019s cultural spaces \u2013 in part, to conceal its own complicity in those crimes.<\/p>\n

Now that chokehold has been exposed \u2013 and it looks every bit as ugly as, indeed, it is.<\/p>\n

Might the backlash against Macklemore\u2019s treatment be a sign that the dam is finally about to burst?<\/p>\n

During two appearances on Sheeran\u2019s tour, Macklemore expressed opposition to Israel\u2019s genocide before an audience of many tens of thousands. He called out \u201cFree Palestine!\u201d as he performed a song, Hind\u2019s Hall, inspired by the Israeli military\u2019s notorious, and cold-blooded, murder<\/a> of a six-year girl, Hind Rajab, in Gaza.<\/p>\n