Roger Waters, the acclaimed singer-songwriter from Pink Floyd, has directly criticized musician Ed Sheeran for his reaction to rapper Macklemore being removed from Sheeran's Loop Tour. Waters expressed his disapproval in an Instagram video on Tuesday.
"There’s two kinds of people in this world: There’s people who do the right thing, that rapper Macklemore would be one of those people. And there’s people, many of them sadly little ― excuse me, I almost used the F-word there ― pricks like you, who do the wrong thing. Goodbye," Waters stated in the video, which featured the text "Ed Who?"
Macklemore was reportedly removed from the tour after expressing support for Palestine during a performance at MetLife Stadium earlier this month. The rapper has been vocal about the conflict, releasing a song titled "Hind’s Hall" in 2024, which includes lyrics calling for the release of Palestinians.
Macklemore himself released a statement indicating that Sheeran maintained a public stance of neutrality, stating Sheeran "couldn’t get past his public facing ‘I don’t take sides.’"
In response to the situation, Sheeran had posted on Instagram, asserting, "I am not complicit. I have my personal views. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and doesn’t mean I don’t care."
Following the controversy, all other opening acts on the tour, along with Sheeran's own backing band, announced on Tuesday that they would be withdrawing from the tour in solidarity with Macklemore.