Finneas and Aaron Rowe withdrew as opening acts for Ed Sheeran on Tuesday in protest of Macklemore being dropped from the tour after the rapper says New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft organized a boycott against him.Macklemore, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, joined Sheeran’s “Loop” tour in New Jersey earlier this month.
He made remarks to the Metlife Stadium crowd that included the phrase “Free Palestine” before performing his protest anthem “Hind’s Hall.” He announced Monday that he was no longer on the tour after that Kraft called Sheeran and threatened to cancel Sheeran’s planned tour stop if Macklemore was still performing.Finneas put out a statement the next day saying he decided to withdraw from his upcoming tour dates with Sheeran.
He wrote on Instagram that he stands “with Palestine and its people.” “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote.This is not the singer’s first public display of support for Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war.
He and his younger sister, Billie Eilish, joined fellow celebrities last year to promote a benefit concert to support relief efforts called “Together for Palestine.” Finneas’ statement came roughly an hour after one of Sheeran’s other openers, Irish singer Aaron Rowe, announced he was dropping out.Rowe posted his statement to Instagram as well, saying in part that he could not stand by while billionaires silenced voices speaking up against “Israeli genocide” and those who highlight the “savage murder of children.”“Ed has been a friend to me and has changed my life, I could never thank him enough for this,” Rowe wrote.
“But as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine, and violent occupation.”A United Nations commission said that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in findings from an independent inquiry published last year.Israeli government officials have denied the allegations, calling them “...