U2’s The Edge backs Macklemore’s right to speak out

U2 guitarist The Edge has backed Macklemore’s right to speak out after the rapper’s pro-Palestinian comments led to his removal from Ed Sheeran’s US tour line-up, while also saying Sheeran should not be blamed for the decision.

“We fully support Macklemore’s right as an artist to say what he wanted to say,” The Edge told the BBC, according to Nieuws.nl. He said he understood that Sheeran had been in a difficult position and should not be “put on the rack”.

The guitarist also praised other young artists who left Sheeran’s tour, saying they had stood up for an artist’s right to free expression.

Sheeran has said the decision to drop Macklemore from the support line-up was made by the tour’s organiser, not by him. Macklemore later launched a three-city “Free Palestine” tour, beginning in Dublin.