How Macklemore's 'Free Palestine' stance derailed Ed Sheeran's entire tour

Controversy has overtaken musician Ed Sheeran's tour after political statements from his opening act. One of the reasons why I wanted to come on this tour was because I wanted to stand up here on stages and stadiums across America and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart. Free Palestine. Rapper Macklemore went on to call the war in Gaza a genocide, something the state of Israel denies. On Monday, Macklemore announced he was kicked off the rest of Sheeran's US tour because of his politics. NFL team and stadium owner Robert Kraft said he wouldn't have Macklemore perform at his venue outside Boston. Kraft said he was upset about Macklemore's history. In 2014, the rapper was accused of wearing an anti semitic costume on stage. Macklemore apologized. The tour headliner in the middle Ed Sheeran spoke out on Tuesday in a social media post saying I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn't mean I don't have them. But that didn't stop the backlash. His other opening acts and even his backing band chose to leave the tour. I can't think of another example where such an exodus has occurred because of a stance that the headlining artist and his management team took. This UK based pop culture writer says Sheeran's tour will likely go on, but that his attempted neutrality could backfire. It's going to be very interesting to see where people stand. Will Ed Sheeran change his mind? Will he say something else? Will he remain silent? Because there's a lot of people that are going to watch him for a long time and want to know. Macklemore says he's donating $1 million of his tour money to organizations helping Palestinians. Kraft says he is in talks with Sheeran about matching Sheeran's donation of $2 million in support of aid in the region. Deanna Sumanac-Johnson, CBC News, Toronto.