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RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Left-wing luvvies mixing pop and politics just bore me to tears

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Cite

Littlejohn, R. (2026, September 18). RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Left-wing luvvies mixing pop and politics just bore me to tears. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/debate/article-16140275/RICHARD-LITTLEJOHN-Left-wing-luvvies-mixing-pop-politics-just-bore-tears.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-09-18 · by Richard Littlejohn analysis

Quick Summary

Richard Littlejohn writes an opinion piece criticizing left-wing musicians who mix politics with their performances. He mentions that several artists supporting Ed Sheeran on his American tour withdrew due to Macklemore’s ban from performing arenas for making pro-Palestinian statements, which Jewish organizations found offensive. Littlejohn expresses frustration with the politicization of concerts and argues that such actions do not influence political outcomes, citing Bruce Springsteen's unsuccessful endorsements in Pennsylvania as an example.
Written by AI on 2026-09-18, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s US tour after making pro-Palestinian comments at concerts. The rapper was removed following his chants of “Free Palestine” and criticism of Israel's actions as apartheid and genocide during performances in New Jersey. Promoters for the tour, Messina Touring Group, confirmed they received notifications from American venues that Macklemore would not be allowed to perform, potentially resulting in tour cancellation. Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium where Sheeran was scheduled to play, reportedly pressured Sheeran over Macklemore’s involvement. In response, Charlotte Church criticized Ed Sheeran during a concert for prioritizing profits over addressing the Gaza conflict.

Written for “Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran Tour” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 120 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran Tour
Entertainment · 121 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 2% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
Hedges 4 of 46 claims Outlet record 68/100
Al Jazeera
Hedges 2 of 76 claims Outlet record 60/100
CBS News
⚖️ Centre Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
BBC News
Hedges 2 of 40 claims Outlet record 68/100
The Guardian
Hedges 0 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 4 of 44 claims Outlet record 61/100
“The articles discuss related topics involving Ed Sheeran's tour and Macklemore being dropped, but they describe different aspects: Article A focuses on the cancellation of support acts due to political statements, while Article B covers Ed Sheeran addressing the controversy at a concert.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 21 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of the Macklemore controversy, with Article A focusing on acts canceling tours due to political issues and Article B reporting on Charlotte Church's criticism of Ed Sheeran at a separate event.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 61/100
“Article A discusses the cancellation of support acts for Ed Sheeran's tour due to political controversy involving Macklemore, while Article B describes Ed Sheeran addressing a political issue directly at his concert.”
BBC News
⚖️ Centre Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different aspects of an ongoing situation related to Ed Sheeran's concert, but they do not describe the exact same incident or occurrence.”
Mother Jones
Hedges 1 of 21 claims Outlet record 95/100
“While both articles discuss Macklemore being removed from Ed Sheeran's tour due to political issues, they describe different aspects and do not specify the exact same incident in time or context.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
64
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
2%
1 of 64 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
68/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
121
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 8606 article(s) · 20 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 20 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Richard Littlejohn
3 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 These include traditional wheelie bins, food caddies, woven sacks for cardboard boxes, and something called Trolibocs, which even I couldn’t make up.
🔮 Andy Burnham poses as a ‘straight kinda guy’ to borrow from Blair’s self-estimation, writes Richard Littlejohn So where will Andy Burnham’s ‘Back To The Future’ speech in Liverpool this week figure when the dust settles?
🔮 It would be more surprising if Bruce turned up in a red MAGA baseball cap.
Also by Richard Littlejohn
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

American Begorah Daily Mail Irish the BBC Light Programme’s

Subjects

Macklemore PERSON · 6× Sheeran PERSON · 4× Begorah ORG · 2× Benjamin Hammond Haggerty PERSON · 2× Irish NORP · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× Young PERSON · 2× Aaron Rowe PERSON · 1× Daily Mail ORG · 1× Finneas PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Sheeran has been left high and dry by the row over his support artist Macklemore, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, who concluded his act recently shouting ‘Free Palestine’ Rock stars have always paraded their, almost uniformly Left-wing, political views, largely through their lyrics.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-18
🔮 It would be more surprising if Bruce turned up in a red MAGA baseball cap.

Claims (64 extracted, 1 hedged)

- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Be honest, have you ever heard of Macklemore, Aaron Rowe, Finneas, Lukas Graham or an Irish band called something like Begorah? asserted
you → see → Begorah
But they are the support acts who have pulled out of Ed Sheeran’s American tour after rapper Macklemore was banned from arenas because of his pro-Palestinian on-stage propaganda. asserted
Macklemore → pull → propaganda
I’ve heard of Cliff Michelmore, who used to present the BBC Light Programme’s Two-Way Family Favourites with his wife Jean Metcalfe. asserted
who → hear → wife
Apparently, he’s famous for dressing up in ‘Jewface’ and falsely accusing Israel of ‘genocide’. asserted
he → ’ → genocide
Which is why promoters have pulled the plug on him and all the other non-entities on the Sheeran bill have walked out in solidarity. asserted
entities → pull → solidarity
Obviously, I have heard of Ed Sheeran, although I’d be hard-pressed to name one of his songs. asserted
I → hear → songs
But my mates in the music industry rate him highly and he seems like a nice boy. asserted
he → rate → boy
Sheeran has been left high and dry by the row over Macklemore, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, who concluded his act recently shouting ‘Free Palestine’. asserted
who → leave → Palestine
Naturally, Jewish-American organisations objected fiercely and promoters responded by kicking him off the tour. asserted
promoters → object → tour
The other support acts took to social media – where else? – to express their shock and horror. asserted
acts → take → shock
Begorah claimed Macklemore had been silenced by ‘billionaires’ and ‘Zionist lobbies’. asserted
Macklemore → claim → billionaires
Rowe compared the plight of the Palestinians to the Irish potato famine. asserted
Rowe → compare → famine
Sheeran now faces the prospect of continuing the tour as a one-man band. asserted
Sheeran → face → band
Why not, it worked for Don Partridge. asserted
it → work → Partridge
He deserves better, having behaved impeccably, keeping his own political views to himself, following the example of the late, great Dolly Parton and not wanting to alienate any of his millions of fans. asserted
He → deserve → fans
Sheeran has been left high and dry by the row over his support artist Macklemore, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, who concluded his act recently shouting ‘Free Palestine’ Rock stars have always paraded their, almost uniformly Left-wing, political views, largely through their lyrics. asserted
stars → leave → lyrics
But in recent years they have started using concerts as agitprop rallies. asserted
they → start → rallies
Having seen Bruce Springsteen live countless times over the past few decades, and followed him since the Greetings From Asbury Park album in 1973, I won’t be bothering again – even if he plays Finsbury Park, a few stops down the Piccadilly Line from me in North London. asserted
he → see → London
Much as I love the music, I can live without his Leftie luvvie lectures at every concert. asserted
I → love → concert
He even kicked off his last UK tour in Manchester with a rant about Donald Trump. asserted
He → kick → Trump
Frankly, who cares what he thinks about Trump. asserted
he → care → Trump
It would be more surprising if Bruce turned up in a red MAGA baseball cap. asserted
Bruce → turn → cap
Yet there is no evidence these rock star endorsements make the slightest difference. asserted
endorsements → be → difference
Springsteen campaigned in Philadelphia, PA, for both Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris. asserted
Springsteen → campaign → Clinton
On both occasions, the following day the good people of Pennsylvania went out and voted for Trump. asserted
people → go → Trump
A few years back we went to see him at the Hydro in Glasgow. asserted
we → go → Glasgow
All started well, with Young at the piano performing classics like After The Goldrush. asserted
Young → start → Goldrush
Half an hour in, though, it all went pear-shaped as he brought on a crowd of people in HazMat suits, spraying pretend chemicals on stage, and delivered a tedious rant about pesticides. asserted
he → go → pesticides
As you can imagine, that didn’t go down well with the bevvied-up Glaswegian crowd who had paid good money to hear the hits. asserted
who → imagine → hits
And I speak as someone who enjoyed Young’s anti-Bush Living With War album and tour in 2006, along with his fellow Crosby, Stills and Nash sidekicks. asserted
who → speak → sidekicks
I also made a series for Radio 2 called Why Do The Left Have All The Best Songs? asserted
Left → make → Songs
I don’t go to concerts, or football, or the theatre for that matter, to be told what to think, how to behave or how to vote. asserted
I → go → what
When I turn up at a 10cc gig, the great Graham Gouldman doesn’t share his opinions on inheritance tax with the audience. asserted
Gouldman → turn → audience
Rock concerts, sporting events and plays should be about escapism, not an opportunity for musicians, footballers and actors to drone on about their view of the world. asserted
musicians → drone → world
And don’t get me started again on the gormless Remainers waving EU flags at the Last Night of the Proms. asserted
me → get → Proms
Who are they trying to impress? asserted
they → try → Who
It’s always a one-way street, too. asserted
It → ’ → ?
As regular readers will know, I gave up my season tickets at Tottenham after 40-odd years because I was sick and tired of the bogus virtue-signalling and the Premier League clambering on every woke bandwagon, from trans rights to climate change. asserted
I → know → change
If I wanted to observe a minute’s silence before every game, I’d go to a funeral. asserted
I → want → funeral
I certainly didn’t want to have to pay a few grand to be forced to suffer multi-millionaire players ‘taking the knee’ to Black Lives Matter. asserted
players → want → Matter
…and 24 more, not listed.
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