Don't tell me Ed Sheeran didn't know this was the act.

This weekend, Macklemore opened for him at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, in front of tens of thousands of people who had bought tickets to see Ed Sheeran.

He walked onstage wearing a keffiyeh and told the crowd he wanted to say two words that were “near and dear” to his heart:

“Free Palestine.”

Then he performed Hind’s Hall, his explicitly anti-Israel protest song, while enormous screens behind him showed footage from Gaza, pro-Palestinian campus encampments, Israeli soldiers, and political messages accusing Israel of genocide. One screen reportedly displayed the words: “Holocaust survivor says stop the genocide in Gaza.” Parts of the stadium cheered.

He also told the audience that people in Gaza and the West Bank had not been forgotten, and framed his decision to speak as a refusal to stay silent merely to preserve his own comfort or the comfort of the audience.

Meanwhile, Israeli and Jewish families sat in that stadium to hear Ed Sheeran.

Some reportedly had no idea Macklemore was opening. Israeli attendees described being shocked and devastated; some people left before Ed even came on, and others cried.

I'll say this: if I had bought tickets to that show, especially if I had brought my kids, I would have felt sick.

Macklemore is vile and disgusting.

But, there is an enormous difference between voluntarily attending a political artist’s show and unexpectedly finding yourself surrounded by tens of thousands of cheering people while giant screens accuse your country of genocide.

I would have felt trapped, violated, and deeply unsafe.

What breaks my heart most is that I simply cannot believe that Ed didn't know what was planned.

Macklemore has made Palestine a central part of his public persona for years. Hind’s Hall was literally written in support of the Columbia encampments. He has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide and turned his performances into political demonstrations.

This was not some obscure opinion buried in an interview from ten years ago.

This is what he does.

He wasn’t a surprise guest. Macklemore was an officially announced opener for Ed Sheeran’s MetLife shows and additional tour dates.

Ed gave Macklemore his stage, his audience, and his platform.

And when your name is on the ticket, you obviously bear responsibility for what happens before you walk onto it.

If I had paid hundreds of dollars to take my family to an Ed Sheeran concert and this is what I encountered before he even came out?

And if I came to listen to Ed's music that has been woven through my life, means something to me, and that makes me feel real feelings...

I should not have had to decide whether my family was safe enough to stay.

I'm horrified.