I'm not caught up on the thread but I did just watch Ed's speech and was interested to see that he actually got a massive cheer when he said that he had never wanted to be a political artist. I haven't seen that reported in articles about it.
Whatever the furore online, it looks like his fans in the stadium would have been perfectly happy if he just gave the peace, love, and unity line and continued to stay out of it. That was what they cheered loudest. They also cheered when he acknowledged October 7th, which surprised me.
I'm curious as to how many of the people attacking Sheeran online are actually fans of his. How many listen to his music and would actually pay money to see him? I'm willing to bet the majority have never liked him as an artist, and that's partly why the pile-on has become as big as it has. Ed Sheeran has always been a bit cringe and not taken seriously as a musician. It's easy for Gen Z to turn on him. They're not having to actually sacrifice anything.
I wish he had just upheld his apolitical stance, to be honest, and shown some pride in it. I know social media can make or break artists in this day and age, but a lot of it is also just overblown crap, which is encouraged by people letting themselves be cowed by it. These grovelling apologies celebrities give every time they go against the groupthink are starting to feel like something out of Mao's Cultural Revolution. It's giving me the creeps, frankly. And it never works anyway, not once the bullies have given themselves license to go fully insane. All it does is show weakness and embolden them further.
I appreciate that's not what Sheeran did here, but that's clearly what they want from him, and from Pink, and it's a mentality that just repulses me. "Say the right words! We'll still hate you and offer no forgiveness for your crime, but we demand you say them anyway! Self-flagellate before us!" Barf, barf, barf 🤮