Ed’s always had the reputation of being one of the decent ones. The rare guy in the music industry who actually lifts people up, nurtures them and genuinely sees music as a way to inspire and bring people together. His entire vibe is wholesome and earnest, the kind of guy who believes in the power of love and all that (it’s way too kumbaya and saccharine for my tastes). Which is what makes this whole affair so grim. Because he should be the last person to receive so much hate and vitriol. When he says he’s lost friends over this, the thing that jumps out to me is the really bad behavior of his “friends” in the music industry. You know, the ones he actually invited out on his massive tour. Macklemore and the other opening acts get bigger crowds, bigger paydays and a platform most of them wouldn’t have had on their own. First, Macklemore used Ed’s stage to make the night all about his own cause. Bro you’re the opening act, nobody is paying for those tickets to see you. Second, after Robert Kraft and the other stadium owners made it clear the shows weren’t happening with Macklemore on the bill, what did he do? He threw his “friend” under the bus. The decent move would’ve been for Macklemore to say to the public, “this wasn’t Ed’s fault. Don’t turn him into the villain.” Instead he’s watched Ed take every arrow on social media and get churned through a full-blown media storm. He lets the climate in which activists hysterically accuse Ed of being complicit in genocide and post absurd cartoons of him personally shooting a Palestinian kid with an RPG fester and bloom. There were lots of things Macklemore could’ve said to take some of the heat off the man who actually put him on that stage. But he didn’t. Neither did the other openers who walked. Instead they framed it as principle and solidarity. From the outside it just looks like they took the opportunity, cashed the goodwill, and then left Ed trying to figure out how to keep the tour alive for hundreds of thousands of ticket-holders and the crew who actually depend on the tour to get paid. Ed is the one who took all the risk after all. This dynamic reminds me of those child actors who built careers off @jk_rowling’s work and then publicly disowned her the second her views became inconvenient. These are not good people and they don’t know gratitude. Ed’s finding out, the hard way, just how many shitty people were around him. It’s a terrible experience to go through but in the long run, he would be all the wiser for it