Ed Sheeran suffers new loss after all support acts quit tour in solidarity with Macklemore

Ed Sheeran has been dealt another setback after he pulled Macklemore from his tour over the rapper’s pro-Palestine comments on stage, leading the rest of his support acts to quit.

The British singer, 35, has lost more than 200,000 Instagram followers in just 24 hours in the wake of the scandal, MailOnline reports.

According to the publication, his follower count was at 47.6million on Monday (14 September), but it has since plummeted to 47.3million.

This was the same day that Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, 43, announced that he had been removed from the remaining US dates of Sheeran's string of concerts.

It came after he used the platform to bring light to the atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank, and told the crowd: “Free Palestine.”

The rapper also performed his protest song 'Hind's Hall' while images relating to the destruction in Gaza were shown on the screens of the stadium.

In an Instagram post announcing that he’d been pulled from the tour, Macklemore wrote: “I’m going to speak from the heart and share the truth. Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.

“But before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious. In this moment, I think it matters. I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world.”

In his lengthy statement, he added: “The victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence.

“More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that.”

Sheeran responded by saying he is ‘appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine’ and ‘the suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy’.

He insisted that Macklemore's removal from the tour was not his own decision, but that of his promoters

He said that venues hosting the upcoming shows had told him they would no longer allow the concerts to take place if Macklemore remained on the bill.

The singer wrote: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. 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."

Following Sheeran’s statement, his four other support acts on the US tour - Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, American musician Finneas, who is Billie Eilish’s brother, Lukas Graham, and Irish band Beoga - quit and issued their own respective social media statements.

Rowe wrote that while he ‘doesn’t take the decision lightly’ and Ed has‘been a friend to him, ‘as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation’.

He penned that he ‘cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children,’ adding that he would ‘lose all respect for myself to carry on as normal’.

Meanwhile, Lukas Graham penned that it’s ‘hard to watch families in other parts of the world burying the people they love’ and urged that ‘we should be able to speak about war, about civilians being killed, about children who deserve to grow up. Wherever they live. Whatever flag flies over them’.

Billie Eilish’s brother Finneas wrote on Instagram that ‘artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed’ and he ‘stands with Palestine and its people’.

Finally, Beoga also quit as they wrote: “We are Irish people who understand colonialism. As founding members of the Irish Artists for Palestine movement, we are committed activists for justice and will continue to be.

"This whole episode is once again serving to distract from the real issue; over 1000 Palestinians have been killed since the recent so-called ceasefire."

Tyla has contacted a representative for Sheeran for comment.