RTÉ has said there is “no decision to ban Ed Sheeran’s music” in the wake of the controversy that has engulfed his North American tour.
Earlier this week, Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, Irish-American solo artist Finneas, and Denmark’s Lukas Graham announced they were leaving their guest slots on Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with the American rapper Macklemore, who was removed from the tour over his comments about Gaza.
In a statement, RTÉ said: “There is no decision to ban Ed Sheeran’s music from being played on RTÉ’s radio stations.
“RTÉ’s threshold for banning artists is, and should be, very high.”
Irish radio station Classic Hits Radio previously announced it was removing Sheeran’s music from its playlist “for the foreseeable future” following the controversy surrounding Macklemore’s departure.
During a show at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last week, Macklemore said that he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten, which led to a petition demanding he be removed from the remaining dates.
On Monday, Macklemore, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, posted on Instagram that Sheeran and his team had then “made the decision to remove” him from the Loop Tour after his onstage comments.
Macklemore claimed that Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, had contacted Sheeran and told him he would not be able to play at the venue unless Macklemore was removed from the tour.
Macklemore has said he will donate his net earnings from Sheeran’s Loop Tour – $1 million (€872,000) – to charities supporting Palestinian people
In a response on the social media platform on Tuesday, Sheeran said Macklemore’s departure from the tour was the promoter’s decision and not his.
Sheeran said “upcoming tour dates had communicated that they would pull the shows if he was still supporting”.
Sheeran told his Instagram followers: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict.
“Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.
“Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own personal way.”
The Shape of You singer said he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and that he respected Macklemore “as an artist”.
Sheeran said that he had “spent this week trying to build bridges, to find a solution and unfortunately was unable to do so”.
Macklemore has said he will donate his net earnings from Sheeran’s Loop Tour – $1 million (€872,000) – to charities supporting Palestinian people.
Robert Kraft has said he will donate $2 million to humanitarian aid after Sheeran asked him to match a $2 million donation.
A spokesperson for Kraft confirmed the donation to the Associated Press.
Macklemore had invited the US businessman to match his donation, adding that “whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth.”
Sheeran’s tour is due to resume in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday night.
Additional Reporting: Press Association, Associated Press