Hear Me Out is a new weekly series where Journal Media staffers give their hottest, coldest and, where appropriate, temperature-bending takes on what we’re all discussing at the water cooler this week. 

If you’ve got a spat that needs settling, or you need the input of The Journal’s extended family of agony aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. then be sure to email tips@thejournal.ie with the subject line Hear Me Out, and give us a take that you think the world needs to hear.

AS ONE OF the world’s best-known recording artists, Ed Sheeran is no stranger to the spotlight. However, the level of scrutiny that the 35-year-old has faced since dropping Macklemore from his North American stadium tour over the rapper’s pro-Palestine declarations from the stage has been unprecedented. 

Sheeran has long cultivated an inoffensive persona, and politics has never been at the centre of his music (even though he has taken public stances over the years on issues like Brexit). 

After other support acts, including Aaron Rowe, Finneas, and his backing band Beoga, pulled out of the tour in solidarity with Macklemore, the tour itself was in doubt. However, Sheeran returned to the stage in Philadelphia on Saturday and prefaced his performance with prepared remarks that addressed the controversy. 

“I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician,” said Sheeran, his eyes locked on the teleprompter like a septuagenarian father trying to hold a conversation about your fragile emotional wellbeing while he tries to finish a game of Sudoku on his phone. “But this has put me in the middle of an important argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet.”

Sheeran’s told the crowd that he’d found out who his “real” friends were this week, and........

© TheJournal