Perhaps the greatest surprise of the whole Ed Sheeran fiasco over the past couple of weeks was how quickly a famous and immensely wealthy pop star like him got cancelled. Not for what he did, but for what he didn’t do. And in that is a silver lining for anyone despairing about the power of collective global action.

In the wake of Sheeran caving into Zionist pressure and removing rapper Macklemore from his US tour on September 14 — because of a speech at a concert on September 4 in which Macklemore spoke against the genocide in Gaza and called for Palestine to be free — Sheeran has lost almost 450,000 followers on Instagram till now, seen all his supporting acts (Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, Finneas) as well as his own backing band Beoga quit the tour in protest, and seen his upcoming concert tickets plunge in prices. In fact, the entire ‘Loop Tour’ is in danger of being cancelled, since Sheeran has no supporting acts left and ticket sales have also plunged.

Sheeran’s mealy mouthed attempt to address the controversy at a concert in Philadelphia on September 19 — reading off a prepared script from a teleprompter — probably made things even worse for him. Not only did he not apologise to his alleged friend of 13 years, Macklemore, for showing no spine in the face of billionaire constraints against freedom of expression, he continued to frame the genocide — so determined by all the world’s major human rights organisations as well as genocide scholars — as merely a “complex political situation.”

Even more cringe-worthily, he attempted to centre his own woes as the most important issue — tearing up on stage twice in self-pity — rather than focus on the deaths of at least 75,000 human beings, including more than 21,000 children, in the brutal Zionist assault on Palestine. At least 175,000 people have been left badly injured, almost all schools and hospitals have been destroyed and the true death toll is estimated to be significantly higher, since many bodies are still buried in the rubble of Gaza. Ed Sheeran fully deserves what’s coming at him.

English pop singer Ed Sheeran removed his supporting act Macklemore from his ongoing tour in North America, under pressure from billionaire Zionists who were incensed at the rapper’s pro-Palestinian stance. The growing backlash against that act is actually a moment of hope for the world

Sheeran’s attempts to portray himself as an apolitical ingenu neither stand up to scrutiny nor do they pass the test of basic common sense. A deer caught in the headlights might be a better characterisation. Many commentators were quick to point out that Sheeran had, in fact, taken a political stance with the war in Ukraine, voicing his support for Ukrainians and playing at a charity concert in 2022 for Ukrainian refugees, where he announced “I stand with you.” Obviously, white Europeans are easier to stand with against Russians for him than brown people against Zionists.

But the real irony is nobody even expected spineless Sheeran to make political statements in support of Palestine. The issue really was that he could not stand up even for his own “friends” when Zionist stadium owners such as Robert Kraft pressured him to drop Macklemore for making a short speech. If a superstar with a net worth of above 400 million pounds cannot stand up for principles, what use is such fame and wealth?

As Macklemore pointed out in an excellently worded statement after his ouster from the tour, in the face of the gravest moral issue of our times, neither Macklemore himself nor Sheeran are victims. The real victims are those massacred and injured by, and those continuing to face, the brunt of a genocidal, apartheid state.

But Ed Sheeran’s undoing, especially in the way it has happened, also offers a glimmer of hope that the tide of public opinion is turning. The has-been pop singer Pink, who was among the first to attack Macklemore on social media and supported his removal from the tour, has herself been outed as a virulent Zionist and faces a growing global petition asking Unicef to remove her as a goodwill ambassador.

The superstar Lady Gaga is another one facing a backlash for her support for the apartheid state, with her PR teams scrambling to claim she is keen on supporting Palestinians. At least PR teams understand the danger to their clients’ public personas and futures. Even more tellingly, those rushing to support Sheeran include washed-up singer and former convict Boy George and English far-right, anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson. That should tell you all you need to know about which side to stand on.

Meanwhile, a number of other Western musicians have found in this disaster for Sheeran the opportunity or the courage to assert what they may have earlier shied away from. Of course, some like former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters and Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap have long been vocal about their opinions regarding genocidal Zionists. But now many others, such as the Dave Matthews Band, Gorillaz, Charlotte Church, Zara Larsson, CMAT, Kehlani, Tones and I, Garbage, Dropkick Murphys, Imelda May, Alonestar, PinkPantheress, Billy Bragg, Massive Attack, Noel Gallagher and Imagine Dragons, have also weighed in publicly against Sheeran trying to both-sides a genocide.

As it is, opinion polls show that a large majority in the West now have an unfavourable opinion of the Zionist settler-colonial state. This is particularly true of young Americans, who have been furious with their own establishment’s aggressive support for apartheid over the past eight decades. The Zionists are desperate to shut down all voices of dissent in the West but they are failing, badly.

Just weeks before, A-list actor Mark Ruffalo was being dragged in the mainstream US media for alleged anti-semitism — simply a dog-whistle for taking an anti-genocide stance — and veteran actress Susan Sarandon had openly spoken in early September about being denied roles because of her advocacy for Palestinians. A couple of years previously, Mexican actress Melissa Barrera had been fired from the Scream 7 film under Zionist pressure and seen her Hollywood career dry up because of her pro-Palestinian stance.

Now, however, it is becoming costly not just for open Zionists like Jerry Seinfeld and Gal Gadot but for those like Ed Sheeran who think they can coast through with their alleged “neutrality” in a time of growing global anger. And that is why this saga is a defining moment of hope in a dystopian world.

The writer is Dawn’s Editor Magazines

Published in Dawn, ICON, September 27th, 2026