LBC presenter Ian Payne claimed the “Jewish lobby” is “incredibly strong and really, really clever”, in response to the row over Ed Sheeran’s latest tour.
Anti-Israel rapper Macklemore, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, was removed from Sheeran’s Loop tour in the US after seven of the eight remaining scheduled venues he was due to perform at threatened to cancel the concerts if he stayed on the bill.
The boycott threat came after the New Jersey leg of the tour last weekend, when Macklemore chanted “free Palestine” and projected images of Gaza during the performance of his 2024 pro-Palestine song Hind’s Hall.
In a statement addressing his dropping, Macklemore pointed the finger at Jewish billionaire Robert Kraft, who owns one of the upcoming venues on the tour, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, claiming that he rallied the other stadium owners to threaten to cancel.
Macklemore’s dropping led to all of Sheeran’s other support acts, including Irish folk band Beoga and Irish singer Aaron Rowe, to quit in solidarity.
During Payne’s LBC segment yesterday, he said: “So, all... supporting acts for upcoming dates of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour have now withdrawn in solidarity with fellow opening act Macklemore as a backlash grows against his removal from the tour over on-stage comments in support of Palestine.
“Such a sensitive topic, and the reason it is such a sensitive topic is obvious - because the Jewish lobby is incredibly strong and really, really clever about getting its message out.
He went on: “They know all the buttons to press, and they freak people out because they think, ‘oh no, we better not be seen as antisemites’... It is like... move on... it is just words, just move on.
“Maybe, I’m underplaying it... that’s my opinion.”
A Board of Deputies spokesperson said: "It is deeply concerning to hear a national broadcaster use language that risk invoking antisemitic tropes.
"We urge LBC to reflect seriously on how these comments were allowed to be broadcast and to address the concerns they have caused."
Campaign Against Antisemitism commented: “The reference to a ‘Jewish lobby’ echoes the longstanding racist conspiracy that Jews have undue power and influence, particularly over the media. His allusions to its supposed cleverness plays into the trope that Jews are manipulative and conniving, and the suggestion that concerns about being called antisemitic are simply the result of Jews knowing which ‘buttons to press’ also trivialises hatred against Jews, which is at the worst levels in living memory.”
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