Ed Sheeran loses 500,000 followers as ticket prices plunge amid Macklemore fallout

Ed Sheeran has lost 500,000 Instagram followers since Macklemore was booted from his Loop tour for his “Free Palestine” comments made on stage.

Sheeran’s Instagram followers have plummeted from 47.6 million to 47.2 million in the two weeks since the Macklemore controversy started, over the pro-Palestinian comments made during his opening set.

The Thrift Shop singer claimed several stadiums told Sheeran they would not allow his concerts to proceed with Macklemore on the line-up.

The recent blow for Sheeran comes as the Thinking Out Loud singer is reportedly struggling with feeling “used and exploited” by celebrities who were “enjoying the publicity at his expense,” according to The Mirror.

“He’s completely exhausted emotionally,” a source told the UK outlet.

“Everyone involved is utterly drained. And every time he tries to make the situation better, another celebrity comes out of the woodwork and criticises him.”

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His social media following is not the only thing that’s taken a hit. The cost of tickets for his remaining shows have also plummeted.

Floor Tickets for his stadium shows within 50 rows of the stage are listed for just $US185 ($262) on Ticketmaster. The same floor seats were listed during presale for $US270 ($385). Meanwhile, tickets at the back of the stadium are going for $US88 ($124).

The singer is due to take the stage again this Friday night at Gillette Stadium, which was the primary venue at the centre of the controversy.

Stadium owner Robert Kraft issued a public statement saying he refused to let the show go on if Macklemore performed due to past “antisemitic” rhetoric.

Macklemore alleged that Kraft rallied other stadium owners to threaten to cancel tour dates if he wasn’t dropped from the lineup.

After Macklemore was axed from the tour, all of Sheeran’s support acts dropped out of the remaining shows. His own touring band quit amid the controversy.

Sheeran insisted the tour continue, despite ticket princes plummeting and people telling him to cancel his shows. In his first show back following the fallout, he admitted it had “been a weird week.”

“It happened very quickly. At the same time, I had so many people telling me to cancel this tour and so many people I’ve known for years and years and years they’re kind of backing away,” he said at the Lincoln Financial Field show. 

“In the back of my mind, I saw the ticket sales for this gig and I didn’t see cancellations, I saw people buying tickets for this gig,” he continued as the crowd started to cheer. 

“Everyone’s telling me to cancel and I’m feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me.”

“I look at the end of the week and I see 50,000 people who haven’t abandoned me,” he continued. 

“People will say what they want, but I am doing this for you. I love you. I love this.”

He also addressed the situation in an Instagram statement, confirming that he’d had conversations with venues, including Gillette Stadium owner Kraft, “to try and build a bridge”, but wasn’t successful.

“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me,” he said.

Sheeran said he would not be drawn into public debate about Israel and Palestine.

“I have always used my platform and music to bring people from all backgrounds and cultures together and this won’t ever change,” he said, adding that his shows were about “unity” and “escapism”.

“I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict,” he continued.

“Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care. Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own, personal way.”

In Macklemore’s original statement addressing his axing, he confessed that the pressure from Stadium executives put Sheeran in a tough position.

“His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before. He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with,” he said.

Macklemore had told the audience at Sheeran’s New Jersey shows he wanted Palestinians to know “we have not forgotten about them”.

These comments led to calls from The Israeli-American Council for him to be removed from the tour.

At the following day’s show, Macklemore reiterated his stance while also addressing Jewish audience members.

“Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you,” he told the crowd. “My message is for peace, love, for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect and equality.”

Though he has now been dropped, Macklemore stood by his beliefs.

“If those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on,” he said in his statement.

However, he hoped the outcome didn’t end his relationship with Sheeran, whom he considered “a brother”.

“Thirteen years of friendship doesn’t disappear because of one painful disagreement,” he said.

“I hope we both continue listening, studying what is happening in Palestine and wrestling with what neutrality means in a moment like this. My door will always be open to continuing that conversation.”