Jack Antonoff isn’t afraid to say “Free Palestine,” and he doesn’t think Ed Sheeran should be, either.
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After the British pop star drew controversy for the firing of Macklemore as an opener on his Loop Tour — a decision that came after billionaire Robert Kraft rallied other stadium owners to forbid Sheeran from performing at their venues unless the rapper exited the bill — Antonoff shared his take in an interview with The Guardian published Sunday (Oct. 25). Of the “Free Palestine” sentiment, the producer said, “If you think it is [controversial] you’re lost in some other sauce that is so crazy.”
“They’re going to let some f–king promoter tell me what I can say?” Antonoff continued. “Don’t book me. I’ll play for free outside. [Sheeran] missed a massive, beautiful opportunity there: Just cancel the whole f–king tour, then play for free outside each venue, raise a bunch of money, rather than let a f–king billionaire tell you what to do … Stand the f–k up.”
Billboard has reached out to Sheeran’s rep for comment.
Antonoff has long been voicing his support for Palestinians amid the extreme violence in Gaza these past three years, but ever since the Loop trek controversy, he added that he’s “felt way more emboldened to say it now, because it’s not in any way a strange, uncomfortable or controversial thing to say.”
The U.S. promoter for the Loop trek, Messina Touring Group, announced mid-September that it had dismissed Macklemore from the supporting lineup following upset over his “Free Palestine” onstage demonstrations at two shows in New Jersey. Sheeran stated at the time that he had been trying to find alternative solutions in discussions with Kraft — whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium — and other venue owners leading up to the promoter’s decision, but ultimately decided to continue on with the tour sans Macklemore.
“There is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace,” Sheeran wrote at the time of his choice to stay out of politics. “I choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed.”
Later, Macklemore announced that he’d donated the $1 million he’d made on his short-lived Loop excursion to Palestinian aid — after which both Sheeran and Kraft pledged money to unspecified humanitarian efforts in Gaza — and locked in plans to embark on a “Free Palestine” benefit tour.
In addition to his support of Palestinians, Antonoff has also been vocal for years in his dislike for certain power players in the live music industry. Last year in a conversation with Hayley Williams in Rolling Stone, he blasted large corporations such as Live Nation, which owns Ticketmaster, for trying to “monopolize the whole f–king thing.”
“Live Nation keep missing the point,” he elaborated to The Guardian. “Every time I say something, they’ll call my people and say: ‘Let’s have a meeting.’ You don’t get it, I don’t want to f–king talk to you people. I want to make it clear that I’m not f–king OK with you turning the most sacred thing [in] the world into some weird free-market piece of s–t.”
Billboard has reached out to Live Nation for comment.