Comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg took aim at Ed Sheeran during her opening monologue on “Saturday Night Live UK,” calling him a “world-famous red-headed puppet” in the wake of his public falling-out with Macklemore over the rapper’s pro-Palestine comments on tour.
“I’ve been incredibly privileged to have done so many interviews with people like Idris Elba, Cher and even a world-famous, red-headed puppet with a hand up his ass telling him what to say,” Dimoldenberg said. When a photo of Elmo flashed on screen, she deadpanned, “No, the other one” — before a picture of her 2021 interview with Sheeran on her YouTube series appeared, drawing cheers from the audience. Dimoldenberg, 32, said nothing further. A rep for Sheeran, 35, was not immediately available for comment.
Dimoldenberg is the creator of “Chicken Shop Date,” a YouTube series she launched in 2014 in which she interviews celebrities at fried chicken restaurants around London. She recently announced the show is ending, with its final series premiering Oct. 2.
The Macklemore split
The joke follows weeks of controversy after Macklemore, 43, said he was dropped as an opening act for the remainder of Sheeran’s Loop Tour following a pro-Palestine speech at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
“I wanted to stand up here on stages across America and say two words that are near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine,” Macklemore said at the show.
Macklemore, born Benjamin Haggerty, wrote on Instagram that Sheeran and his team “made the decision to remove [him]” from the tour, but was careful to frame the stakes.
“I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim … We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families,” he wrote, adding that the “victims are the Palestinian people … who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence.”
Other openers on the tour — Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga — dropped off in solidarity with Macklemore shortly after.
Sheeran’s response
Sheeran pushed back on Instagram, saying venues had threatened to pull his shows if Macklemore stayed on the bill.
“I spoke with the venues at length all week to try and build a bridge… Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me. I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living,” he wrote.
Sheeran said he was not “complicit” in the “devastating conflict” between Israel and Palestine and explained he avoids public political statements because his fans come from “all backgrounds.”
At a Sept. 19 show at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Sheeran broke down in tears, telling the crowd he felt abandoned by people close to him.
“In these situations you really find out who your friends are. It’s been a weird week. Everyone’s telling me to cancel and I’m feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me,” he said.
Macklemore announced a “Free Palestine Tour” on Sept. 24, with proceeds going to “organizations supporting the Palestinian people and movement.”
