Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey Says Ed Sheeran ‘Took the Knee’ With Macklemore: ‘Doesn’t Sit Right With Me’

Dropkick Murphys ‘ frontman Ken Casey has spoken up about Macklemore being forced off Ed Sheeran ’s Loop Tour after the rapper made onstage comments in support of Palestinians and criticized Israel’s war in Gaza.

In an interview with Boston Public Radio, Casey said, “I know that, as a musician for 30 years, anytime we’ve gone on tour we’ve selected the bands that have opened for us — that’s brotherhood, sisterhood, that’s family. You live or die with the people you bring on the road. They’re your people.”

He added: “And the fact that Ed Sheeran took the knee, no matter what the cause is, and not stood with his fellow tour partner, just doesn’t, you know, sit right with me. And that’s not how Dropkick Murphys would operate.” Casey comments garnered applause during the taping.

Casey said that the promoter is not the entity that should dictate what happens at a show. “The promoter is not what the people come to see.” He gave an example: during the band’s Rocklahoma Festival in Oklahoma. “We said what we have to say onstage every night, and probably about 50 percent of the audience walked away.” The band is outspoken about the Trump administration. (Sheeran said the decision to remove Macklemore was not his , but that of the promoter Messina Touring Group, combined with pressure from venues as orchestrated by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.)