Sorry, Ed Sheeran, But All Art is Political

Ed Sheeran is not sorry. Sure, he shed a few crocodile tears on-stage last week after his band and support acts stepped away from the Loop Tour following the censorship of Macklemore, but the stench of insincerity from his self-pitying faux-apologies was strong enough to be smelled worldwide. He gave in to the demands of billionaire and Epstein Files featured player Robert Kraft (whose wedding Sheeran performed at) to have Macklemore pulled from the stage because the rapper dared to express support for Palestine. Sheeran's initial "but both sides" response included the clanger of a line, "I am not complicit." He tried to follow that up at a recent concert, but could not help but moan about how sad he was and how he didn't know who his true friends were. Macklemore savvily declared in his statement that neither he nor Sheeran were the victims in this story. But Sheeran really wants you to know that he thinks he's a victim. He does truly seem flabbergasted that his support act roster of pro-Palestine acts and Irish people would not side with him versus the IDF fundraiser. Oh, to have ones head so thoroughly in the sand…

Sheeran is a man whose massive success has been built off his image as an affable everyman who just wants to get along with everybody. "Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum," he wrote in that initial post. It's certainly an expectation that many have. A big chunk of the criticisms towards Macklemore are rooted in the idea that this was neither the time nor the place for politics. Such opposition, of course, usually insists that there's no such thing as the right time or place to call out a genocide, but I digress. Sheeran has gotten far, and become a multi-millionaire, from being an inoffensive singer who nobody could possibly have strong feelings about beyond finding his music mid. He’s learning, however, that art is political, and “not taking sides” is as political an act as saying, “Free Palestine” to your fans.

I get why people hate hearing that everything is political. Politics is exhausting, and many people view pop culture and art as a respite from the real world. You block out the noise with your favourite song, with the films that delight you so. Sometimes, you just want the silly space fights to be just that. They’re not, of course. I always remember the way my eyes would roll whenever the people who hated Star Wars: The Last Jedi would complain about wanting politics to be kept out of a series built upon a narrative of rebels taking on a fascist system. When GamerGate and the Sad Puppies pile-ons happen, you could barely breathe with all of the smothering hypocrisies at play. Keep your damn politics out of my Call of Duty games, just as the Pentagon intended. There’s nothing political about galactic armies, okay?

But the matter at hand was never about politics. It was about left-wing and identity politics. These losers aren’t mad about outright government propaganda in first-person shooters, either because they support it or because their media literacy is so lacking (although, let's be honest, the latter is a big reason.) They’re furious that mediums and genres they engage with would dare to acknowledge someone or something other than themselves. GamerGate, built upon the harassment of one woman by her bitter ex-boyfriend, screeched about ethics while claiming that female characters in sensible clothing were a feminazi hate campaign. They rallied against women and queer-driven sci-fi books while stuffing the ballots to get Milo Yiannopolous a Hugo nomination. Two Black women turn up in a Greek epic populated largely with white Americans, and it’s too shocking for poor Elon Musk to bear. The cycle is well-worn and ruthless in its cruelty. And it’s entirely political.

It’s easy for those in charge to deride their opponents as “politically driven” in contrast to their fake objectivity because power lets you dictate the standards. A high enough net worth makes you uncancellable, but it also bestows upon you the ability to move the goalposts as frequently as you please. That’s how we get Robert Kraft, a multi-billionaire Trump BFF who is in the Epstein files and makes massive donations to the IDF, somehow being the “neutral” party in this matter. You get to blackball artists, strengthen bigotry, and help the President in its targeting of the arts, all while claiming you’re above it all. Anyone who calls it out who has a sliver of your clout is clearly jealous and an agitator and the real threat to the world. Anti-democracy, through this mindset, is the neutral option.

There’s this fantasy we all cling to that those with lots of money have the freedom to say, “fuck you” and do as they please. What’s the point in being so obscenely wealthy if you’re not going to use it to get stuff done? But as we’ve seen time and time again, the more money you have, the less likely it is that you’ll stand up to power. Greed makes you scared. It makes you paranoid that someone, be it the taxman or cancel culture or some woman you dared to assault, is out to get you. So you don’t speak up lest the mildest of stances shuts down a key money-maker, hence why so many celebrities don’t want to lose access to markets like Israel or Saudi Arabia. Colonizers by Skims too.

Maybe they vote Democrat or Green in the ballot booth, but in action, they’re most focused on making that number in their bank account go up. Their measly efforts at philanthropy, an attempt to prove their empathy while taking a nifty tax break, are usually highly disproportionate to their actual wealth. Paying their fair share of taxes would do more effective good in the world, but why choose that over not speaking out? And there will always be issues that are acceptable for you to support, like Sheeran standing with Ukraine. Donating money to animal charities is cool. Doing it for trans kids or Palestinian amputees? Suddenly, you’re taking a controversial stance.

But many stars on Sheeran’s level are taking a stance, both on the genocide and on issues we are consistently told we should avoid. Olivia Rodrigo has used her concerts to promote abortion access and reproductive justice, and wore an "ICE OUT" pin at the Grammys. Billie Eilish called out billionaire greed to their damn faces, stated that "no one is illegal on stolen land" while denouncing ICE, and supported both Artists4Ceasefire and Together for Palestine. Coldplay—fucking Coldplay!—a band known for being as wide in their appeal and non-controversial as Sheeran, has collaborated with Palestinian artists for years. They all faced some kind of pushback and some questionable attacks, but they persevered nonetheless. If anyone stopped listening to these megastars because they “got political”, it hasn’t impacted their profit margins. Hell, look at Madonna’s entire career, wherein she became the most famous person alive while standing up for AIDS survivors amid an epidemic the then-President was trying to ignore. None of this is new.

I’ve seen people wonder why it’s Ed Sheeran who’s become the epicentre of this topic and not someone like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, both of whom have been subjected to a lot of criticism over their selective silence on Trump, Palestine, etc. It feels like it could have been any artist, but usually you’d see hardcore stans flinging themselves in front of the speeding trucks of criticism, and that’s not happening with Ed. Yes, he’s popular, but he’s not the kind of artist who inspires such devotion. Maybe that provided a lack of insulation as Macklemore read him to filth. Being passionate about Ed Sheeran is like being the biggest fan of cream wallpaper.

Really, I think the shift happened because Sheeran has spent so long embodying the ethos that has kept so many rich people cloistered from the real world for decades: shut up and play the hits. Don’t take sides, except when you do. Don’t have an agenda, aside from the ones we’re okay with. Be nice to everyone until they say the word “genocide.” Befriend the billionaires and be as appealing to as many customers as possible. Any artist who’s been in the game long enough will tell you that sooner or later your star will dim, so you might as well be your true self and hope the devotees stick around. If you stand up for nothing when it matters, why would you expect anyone else to care about your feelings?

Trying to be everything to everyone is a fool’s errand. There is no such thing as being apolitical. “I don’t take sides” is a smarmy declaration of cowardice, almost always uttered by someone who 100% takes sides when they want to. Because there’s this expectation that Ed Sheeran “is for everyone”, the moment he reveals the truth, it hits harder. It does not breed unity to balk at the prospect of calling out injustice. A genocide is taking place whether you acknowledge it or not. To quote Howard Zinn, “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.”