Rather than sing — which is what people pay him a lot of money to do — Sheeran slouched onto the darkened stage and delivered a monologue.
He had mishandled the most recent controversy, he said, referring to a slow-rolling PR disaster that began with his opening act, Macklemore, ranting about “Palestine”; continued with venues threatening cancellation; and ended with all opening acts quitting the tour and demand for tickets dropping so rapidly that promoters had to slash prices by as much as 50%.
Why are people losing interest in Sheeran?
asserted
people → sing → Sheeran
Left-wing media would have you believe it’s because tens of thousands of Americans are passionate exclusively about Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and only support entertainment produced by artists who stand with Hamas.
asserted
who → have → Hamas
A more likely reason: Most people just want to enjoy good music, not whiny lectures by know-nothing ninnies.
asserted
people → want → ninnies
Sheeran, on his end, delivered plenty of the latter.
asserted
Sheeran → deliver → latter
“I am making mistakes,” he said tearfully, “and I am so, so sorry.”
asserted
I → make → mistakes
And then, he went on to deliver what he felt was the requisite apology he owed the “Palestine” crowd.
asserted
he → go → crowd
“What happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain,” he said.
asserted
he → happen → pain
“What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
asserted
happening → happen → Gaza
It was a mea culpa so soppy that it made the insufferably weepy song that followed, “Castle on the Hill,” seem profound by comparison.
asserted
that → make → comparison
It also managed the commendable feat of packing a truly impressive dose of cowardice and stupidity into one short speech.
asserted
It → manage → speech
A red-headed lad who grew up with thick glasses and a severe stutter, Sheeran has spoken openly and frequently about being severely bullied throughout his childhood.
asserted
Sheeran → grow → childhood
That being the case, he ought to know bullies when he sees them, and the pro-Palestine movement is nothing but one endless exercise in bullying.
asserted
movement → know → bullying
Their playbook is simple: Latch on to something or someone successful; demand that they put everything aside and talk only about “Palestine” or else be condemned as heartless or evil; watch everyone walk away in disgust because no one’s buying their breathless lying and relentless haranguing; and then claim to be the real victims before finding something new to destroy.
uncertain
one → latch → something
His previous tour netted nearly a billion dollars.
asserted
tour → net → dollars
He could’ve easily crushed the bullies by telling them that if they wanted to talk about “Palestine,” they were welcome to do so anywhere but on his stage, which was reserved for pop, not propaganda.
uncertain
which → crush → pop
Instead, he caved, becoming merely the latest victim of this destructive cult of fanatics.
asserted
he → cave → fanatics
Because that’s what “Palestine” is — a death cult that shrieks and threatens and pressures you into submission.
asserted
that → ’ → submission
And when you submit, you must let go not only of your decency and backbone but also of common sense and logic.
asserted
you → submit → sense
Is what’s happening in Gaza truly “unjustifiable”?
asserted
what → happen → Gaza
Even if you accept the singer’s claim of the war being “disproportionate” — a claim observers who had spent their careers studying war, not crooning about making out in the backseat of a cab, rejected without too much difficulty — you’d have to be totally brainwashed to argue that there was no justification for Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
uncertain
you → accept → Gaza
The Nova festival itself is justification, with 378 young concert-goers murdered by terrorists who crossed an internationally recognized border.
asserted
who → murder → border
Add to that the wholesale slaughter of entire families, the rape of teen girls, and the kidnapping and abuse of hundreds of civilians, including babies and toddlers, and you’ve all the justification a sane person needs.
asserted
person → add → justification
Of course, the “Palestine” cult doesn’t care about the facts, which is why it started accusing the Jews of perpetrating genocide on Oct. 8, 2023, about three weeks before Israel launched its ground war against Hamas.
asserted
Israel → care → Hamas
They wanted a “ceasefire,” an Israeli surrender, one day after the Hamas-led terror attack.
asserted
They → want → attack
And tearing up on that stage in Philadelphia, Sheeran showed that he, too, no longer cares about truth, beauty, and anything else that makes for great art.
asserted
that → tear → art
Ed Sheeran caved to the bullies, and he has the plummeting ticket sales to show for it.
asserted
he → cave → it
The Aporia
