Roger Waters Calls Out ‘Little Pricks Like’ Ed Sheeran Over Macklemore Response

Pink Floyd singer-songwriter Roger Waters didn’t mince words when calling out musician Ed Sheeran for his response to the removal of rapper Macklemore from Sheeran’s Loop Tour.

“I just have a little message for you,” Waters said in an Instagram video Tuesday. “There’s two kinds of people in this world: There’s people who do the right thing, that rapper Macklemore would be one of those people. And there’s people, many of them sadly little ― excuse me, I almost used the F-word there ― pricks like you, who do the wrong thing. Goodbye.”

The video displayed the words: “Ed Who?”

Waters himself was under fire in 2023 for using antisemitic tropes in a show. He defended the usage by saying he was “brainstorming ideas on how to make the evils and horrors of fascism and extremism apparent and shocking.”

His dressing-down of Sheeran comes after the English pop star gave a mealy-mouthed response about American rapper Macklemore’s dismissal from the “Shape of You” singer’s tour.

Macklemore was removed from the tour after he said “Free Palestine” during a concert at MetLife Stadium earlier this month. The rapper’s comments weren’t a surprise ― Macklemore has been outspoken that Israel’s ongoing attacks on Palestinians amount to a genocide. In 2024, he released “Hind’s Hall,” which includes the lyrics “screamin’ ‘Free Palestine’ ’til they’re home at last.”

The rapper later released a statement and said in part that Sheeran “couldn’t get past his public facing ‘I don’t take sides.’”

Sheeran made that clear in his response on Instagram, saying in part: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and doesn’t mean I don’t care.”

In the aftermath of the upheaval, all remaining opening acts on the tour, including Sheeran’s own backing band, announced Tuesday that they’d be dropping out in solidarity with Macklemore.