Is Ed Sheeran Finished?
Kicking Macklemore off the tour shows us exactly where Ed stands.
Hi,
Somehow Ed Sheeran is even more pathetic than I imagined him to be.
I'm hesitant to be reactive to day-to-day news here on Webworm. That's because despite being a newsletter, Webworm isn't really news. It's more investigative and reflective. I don't think any of you reading this want daily news or reactions to what's going on. This is not CNN or Fox. This is not TikTok.
But I've been thinking about this Ed Sheeran thing, and what this says about us. And I wanted to talk about it.
If you missed it, Macklemore has been kicked off his opening slot on Ed Sheeran's tour, after the rapper dared to utter "Free Palestine" during a short speech at MetLife Stadium. He also mentioned the tens of thousands of kids killed by the Israeli military over the last three years.
This was about the least surprising thing Macklemore could have done during his opening shot. The rapper has been outspoken about the genocide in Gaza for ages. It would be like hiring Ms Rachel to do a speech, and being shocked when she started advocating for Palestinian children.
Billionaire Robert Kraft – owner of Gillette Stadium, the next stop on Ed's tour – said he wouldn't allow Macklemore to play due to his "recent actions" and "antisemitic rhetoric". Robert Kraft is well known to Ed Sheeran: Ed played at his 2022 wedding.
The boss of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa was also horrified, somehow forgetting they'd hosted Ye back in June, a rapper who'd gleefully penned a song called "Heil Hitler" and sold swastika merch.
Of course... Kanye hadn't mentioned anything about Palestine, so he was fine.
I get not wanting to talk about certain issues, in order to keep people on side. Whenever I write about Palestine on Webworm, I lose paying subscribers.
The fact is: If Beyonce or Taylor Swift or Slipknot had a backbone and spoke out loudly about Palestine, they'd lose a large swathe of their paying audience. Same with Ed.
And for a time, it looked like Ed Sheeran – everyone's favourite cameo in Game of Thrones, visitor of sick-kids-in-hospitals – would be okay. Perhaps he'd sail through this PR nightmare without a drop of water touching his luscious red locks, the blame shifting to the Robert Krafts of the world.
Then Macklemore shared this about his friend of 13+ years – giving a little bit of insight into Ed's brain:
Then Ed decided to share his thoughts directly, posting the most pathetic, cowardly, selfish, privileged, maddening, morally bankrupt statement I could imagine – all couched in the most spineless language and worldview imaginable. If a wizard suddenly removed all of Ed Sheeran's bones from his body and he melted into a puddle of organs, skin and goo – this is what it would Ed would have gargled at you:
"I do not use my professional platform for politics."
Webworm notes Ed Sheeran seemed fine campaigning and fundraising for Ukraine.
"To be a place of safety and sanctuary."
"To maintain diplomacy."
"To keep conversations open."
Webworm notes that Ed chose to lock the comments section. Conversations open my ass.
Ed also said this: "I am not complicit." And that is what I am going to push back on a little.
For one thing, I personally believe that if you have a giant platform of millions, you have a certain moral obligation to speak up about things sometimes – or you do start to become complicit. Musicians like Ed Sheeran – and many of the world's biggest actors and podcasters – clearly disagree. They are there to either be escapism, or to both-sides everything.
I call bullshit on that. Not here in 2026.
Look: I think there is a certain argument to be made for not weighing in. For one thing, you can't weigh in on everything – so the second you weigh in on something you are cooked. "Macklemore isn't speaking up about xxx – so fuck Macklemore," one could argue.
But the thing with Ed Sheeran's eight remaining dates with Macklemore is different – because the chance for Ed to actually do something meaningful and important was served up to him on a platter. The debate came directly to Ed, in the form of his opener saying something undeniably true and honest. At that moment, all Ed had to do was back him.
It could have been great: Ed – an artist worth hundreds of millions of dollars – could have told the venues and venue owners to shove it up their ass. He could have cancelled the remaining shows and issued refunds. If refunds weren't possible, he could have taken the loss on himself.
Fans would have been mad as hell. Some of that anger would have been directed at everyone's favourite singer songwriter, Ed Sheeran. But, perhaps, some of those fans would ponder why those cancellations had happened... and decide to look into the why. And all those whys could have translated into anger directed elsewhere, perhaps. Maybe anger at thousands of dead kids.
In this case, Ed Sheeran is complicit because the opportunity to say something real to millions (at his shows, and in the subsequent media coverage) came directly to him.
In slapping that opportunity aside and saying nothing, he's shown us exactly where he stands.
In regards to my clickbait-headline / subject line: Is Ed Sheeran finished? No. No he's not. He'll be fine. And that's because millions are like him and don't give a shit either and that's why we're here.
With that in mind, to you, Webworm reader: Thanks for giving a shit.
Also on Webworm:
David Farrier
David Farrier
David Farrier
What is a Webworm?
Alan photos shortly. But first, I mentioned up the top that "Webworm isn't news" – which made me kinda wanna define Webworm.
Someone actually asked me about what the hell Webworm was the other day, and how it worked. They see me posting about it on social media sometimes, but had no idea what I was prattling on about.
With that in mind, I decided to write down what Webworm was: An exercise for both me, and perhaps any readers who stumbled here but are still not quite sure what it is. In case that's you – read on!
(1)
Webworm is my email newsletter (and website) that I started during covid, back in April of 2021. It’s a mixture of investigative journalism, commentary & advocacy. Webworm stories tend to start in one place, and end up somewhere totally different. A wormhole.
(2)
Webworm was originally going to be called Rabbit Hole – but then a popular podcast used that same name. My friend Eddy suggested Webworm, which captured the idea of worming into a strange story, that often has online elements. I loved it.
My brother Rob designed the logo:
It’s me as a stressed-out worm journalist, emerging from another weird wormhole.
(3)
I’ve written two to three pieces each week for over six years now.
(4)
There are zero ads on webworm.
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The model that I started with back in 2020, and still use, is this: Readers can sign up for free, and get all my public interest journalism for free. With zero ads. This is based on my belief that ideally, public interest journalism should never be behind a paywall.
(6)
And there is a key second option: if it causes them zero financial hardship, readers can pay. It's $6.99 US a month, or $69.69 US a year, and in return they get more of my writing – plus the warm fuzzy feeling of keeping Webworm alive.
Paying members help cover things like hosting costs, guest writers, Webworm’s legal bills (a chunky one of about $20,000 recently) & my time digging into things.
Paying members also get to take part in the Webworm community:the most sane, smart and funny comment section on the internet.
They also get first access to live events.
Shhhh coming up: Webworm live in New Zealand, and Tickled’s 10 year anniversary in New York.
(7)
If you want full webworm, but that subscription fee is too much, I offer 50% off on the FAQ page: webworm.co/about
(8)
If people are on a pension or benefit, or life is just really fucking tough, I comp can comp them a full membership if they email me what’s going on. I currently comp 595 readers. These comps are offset by a combo of paying subscribers, people gifting memberships, or giving one-off donations.
All that is accessible over the FAQ page: webworm.co/about
(9)
Sidebar: Webworm started out on Substack, but left that platform over a year ago when they refused to moderate nazi content, and started feeding some of my readers crap in their algorithm. Webworm happily exists on Ghost, an open source platform that I respect.
(10)
Here are some webworm stories from this year, made possible by readers:
Webworm… was on the ground reporting in Minneapolis when ICE executed Alex Pretti | embedded with locals tracking ICE kidnappings | watched the Melania doc in a cinema full of Trump acolytes | profiled a man living with schizophrenia who’d created a schizophrenia simulator | exposed the dicey side of Anna Mowbray’s “Zeil” site | followed New Zealander Anna Wilding’s bumbling and hilarious run for senate in the US | extensively covered New Zealander Everlee Wihongi’s kidnapping by ICE and eventual release | covered Doug Ruch dying in New Zealand after fraudulently running various GoFundMe campaigns in America | wrote passionately about how AI is not alive please stop saying it’s sentient | a Webworm subject calls the Los Angeles police department to try and get me arrested | Andrew Thorn threatens to sue Webworm over old Webworm story | tracked Bethlehem Baptist church’s meltdown via internal leaked emails | first to report when former Hillsong founder Brian Houston tweeted his porn searches (again) | got taken to court by Anna Wilding’s husband (we wont) | Anna Wilding filed a second lawsuit which Webworm also won | on the ground in Madison when a cops shot an unhoused man riding away on a bike | visited and interviewed the man arrested and indicted for allegedly threatening to kill Donald Trump...
and more.
(11)
Webworm has merch – tees, hats, mugs and stickers that ship worldwide: : www.webworm.store
You can pick up the original Webworm logo by my brother, or an array of unhinged designs by New Zealand artist Jess Johnson
Thanks for listening to my TedTalk.
You can learn more about Webworm here: webworm.co/about
