Watching the spectacle of the world’s most inoffensive and edgeless superstar breaking down after being bullied by the pro-Palestine mob may just turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
I’m of course referring to Ed Sheeran’s hand-wringing mea culpa during his Philadelphia show on Saturday night.
In what played out like a hostage video, the Shape of You singer opened his show by addressing the significant criticism he has attracted online over the axing of Macklemore from his Loop Tour.
Pressure had been building on the rapper from Jewish groups and concertgoers ever since he led a “Free Palestine” chant last week at Sheeran’s concert at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Despite Sheeran insisting that the decision to drop Macklemore ultimately rested with the tour’s promoters, all four remaining supporting acts for upcoming dates swiftly withdrew in “solidarity” with the rapper.
This was the first clue that an attempted cancellation was underway. Terms such as “solidarity” have become bywords for the new McCarthyism that blacklists anyone who isn’t in the progressive class.
Addressing the row over Palestine that had engulfed him, a visibly upset Sheeran told the audience: “This is not usually how I would open the show, but before I play some songs tonight, I hope it’s okay if I say a few words.
“I’m used to my music being criticised … This week the criticism was about something much more important ... I am making mistakes and I am so so sorry.”
Sheeran continued: “I don’t want to disappoint fans, and I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important, compassionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet.
“But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it any more.”
What was his mistake exactly? Macklemore is the only one to blame. He can insist that the platform he’d been given was simply too big not to share his unsolicited opinions about a place he wouldn’t be able to locate on a map, but no one in “the arts” influences anything outside of Beverly Hills.
Aside from bleating in an echo chamber, this display of sanctimony is the ultimate form of solipsism; it’s a way for the most privileged to pat themselves on the back before returning to their mansions, safe from rocket fire and ideologies that seek to destroy them.
The irony is not lost on me that those who have benefitted the most from capitalism end up defending those who deem it the root of all evil. The useful idiots that came out of the woodwork after Osama bin Laden planned and executed the worst terror attack on US soil did the same on October 7, when Islamists gave Israel its 9/11. I’m sure Hamas would have welcomed Macklemore with open arms that day.
Given the terror group's impeccable record on women's rights, I'm sure they would have been equally respectful to Paloma Faith, who, in a deranged rant responding to the Sheeran controversy, demanded that he quit his tour and revealed that she tells her children "Free Palestine" every night before bed.
I should probably declare my self-interest here before my detractors do it for me. I happen to view the way Jews have been treated in the West since October 7 as a moral emergency.
But my defence of Israel does not cloud my judgement. I’m entirely consistent on this point. If I take my children out for the night to see a musician known for mawkish pop ballads, I wouldn’t appreciate it being hijacked by pro-IDF chants.
And yet that’s exactly what happened to Jewish families, who had forked out for a night of escapism only to be lectured on how to feel about the deadliest day for their people since the Holocaust.
As I alluded to at the start of this piece, maybe the witch trials of Ed Sheeran will draw salutary lessons.
The relentless hounding of the singer has felt particularly mean-spirited because he has built a reputation as the nicest guy working in the music industry today.
The fact that his apology has only added fuel to the fire, with the usual suspects such as Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana branding Sheeran a “coward”, claiming that he was reading from a teleprompter and telling him to “spare us the crocodile tears” over his “blood-soaked millions”, proves that you can never appease the mob.
The ‘Be Kind’ crowd can just about get away with it when it’s Morrissey, who has made a career out of being controversial, but going after innocent old Ed is like taking a flamethrower to a litter of kittens - it just feels ugly.
It also speaks to the madness of the current moment, where neutrality on any given subject is seen as the ultimate transgression, where slogans such as “silence is violence” are used to browbeat the unwilling into conforming.
The hope is that by picking on the nice guy in the playground, the bully has been so obviously unmasked that it will force a long-overdue reset on this endless politicisation.
One that ushers back in the age of innocence, when you could go to see your favourite artist and just feel a primal connection to the music and the crowd.
Unfortunately, Sheeran’s promise to “listen and learn” because he “does not know enough” about the Middle East is possibly the worst thing he could have said. By giving an inch, the bullies will notch this up a win. Expect more political lectures at a stadium near you.
I was not impressed, when he apologised, because he had done nothing wrong. In fact, what he had said initially was admirable. Now, though, he comes across as pathetic and unprincipled.