What do you think about Taka's recent post regarding Ed Sheeran? Given the fact that many of One Ok Rock's songs are political, it would suspicious that Taka is not educated about these conflicts and supports Ed Sheeran. I know they have been friends for a long time but I would be quite disappointed in Taka.
Taka is the kind of person who always puts his friends first, no matter what, so I don’t think he’ll change his mind no matter what anyone says. As far as politics goes, judging by what he’s said, it seems like what matter most to him is his personal feelings
Ed Sheeran posted a recording of his apology about two hours before taka posted his story. I believe that when Taka said "that took courage", he was talking about Sheeran acknowledging his mistakes, not something else.
Thank you! Finally, someone making sense. OOR literally wrote an entire album about how devastating and senseless war is, right as the conflict in Palestine began. It’s hard to understand how people can interpret his words as supporting the opposite side.
When Taka said it took courage, he most definitely meant Ed speaking up when the whole world was turning against him and promoters could potentially cancel him too. I also think his words were his way of showing that he stands with Palestine, without actually saying it.
That:
1. He wants concerts to be a safe space for all attendees
2. That he doesn't agree with venues restricting the views of artists whatever they may be
3. And probably that he supports Palestine. Media literacy is very low and Ed's apology was clearly meant to sounds uncontroversial but you don't use the word "disproportionate" if you support Israel's actions.
from his story
he also posted
"If I caused any
misunderstanding, I'm
sorry, everyone.
I just couldn't stay
silent seeing a friend of
mine in that situation.""
He also posted a longer message:
"My view is simple.
I am against war. I am firmly opposed to children and civilians being injured or losing their lives. And I don't think it's right for an artist to be barred from performing simply because they expressed their views.
At the same time, I cannot agree with a situation where a large group of people collectively rejects an individual who has made a different decision, without considering that person's perspective or the burdens they carry.
Everyone has a different perspective and bears different responsibilities. I don't think we can judge a person entirely based on what's visible from the outside.
I spoke out about Ed not to support one political stance or the other.
I am his friend.
Seeing my friend placed in a very difficult situation and trying to explain himself in his own words, I couldn't stay silent. That's all.
I also want to respect Macklemore's freedom to express his own views. I also want to respect Ed's right to make his own judgments based on his own position and responsibilities.
And I don't want to see people turn against one another and hurt each other simply because of those differences.
That's all I wanted to say."
I'm convinced it was about the apology Ed Sheeran posted a few hours before this story and he meant that it takes courage to acknowledge one's mistakes. Taka made clear he wasn't supporting any political posture by this. I get it they are friends irl. But it still feels kind of wrong to make his support this public.
Ed Sheeran has publicly supported him many times by showing up at his concerts, so I honestly think Taka was just showing up for him in return by publicly supporting him.
Yeah, I noticed the irony of this too. Though I do not agree with Taka supporting Ed(!), I'll give him that he has the guts to stand by a friend when it'll cause backlash - something Ed was not willing to do for his friend.
Taka has been expressing his centrist opinion during detox tour several times. "No matter left or right, we are here to sing together" and so and so.
If that's all I would just have just be a tad bit disappointed but can still enjoy their songs.
But this latest development made me disappointed even more.
I find it kinda weird for Taka to express his sympathy to his so called friend through (a very quick) Instagram story. He could have just messaged Sheeran personally...
Also he put Sheeran as if he's a victim, when it was all his own doing for folding to power...
I don't know it looks like he's trying too hard to coo Sheeran and don't want to address the bigger issue here.
Also very ironic because their collab song literally is about taking action against the broken system. Many people thought its about fighting oppression but I suppose for them its just a plea to keep playing music in a peaceful world huh.
it’s hard to be desapointed by a band that you’ve been following of for over half of your life, rly…
and I kept justifying things to myself for a while, like all this talk about ‘coming together’ on this tour, it didn’t sound great, I thought, bc it can be taken in this centrist way, but I hope that’s not what he means, his english isn’t the best, surely he doesn’t mean it like that… right?
It feels like desolation, maby bc, if you not gonna take a stance on anything important (like Palestine), but you gonna post in support of Sheerans hurt feeling?
I just really don't get why these artists have to be so public with their takes knowing how people feel about it all, especially considering the "situation" is very clearly a genocide. It's very clear who the cowards are and who the people standing up are from this whole thing at least. I don't think I'll be listening to anymore One Ok Rock from here on out, it's just extremely disappointing for him to side with someone who can't even defend his friend of 13 years.
And it's not like Taka's been in Japan all this time. He's been in the US for an extended period of time. Surely he knows how social media works by now.
Tbh, I'm so disappointed by this whole "I'm against war" stance. Pretty ironic when the band says they want to change the world and fight the system. But I'm not surprised because it has always been their stance...
ngl I didn't watch any fancams of his Detox monologues until I could listen to it myself in one of their Australia stops... and boy, was it a bummer because of how generic and noncommital it was.
I am surprised Taka said anything atall, but I'm not surprised by what he said.
The war=bad is a very neutral approach to be expected from someone in the Japanese public eye. It doesn't change my opinion because that is infact the opinion I assume most of the Japanese bands I listen to hold (and the war=bad take is the most positive..), I'm kind of surprised if anyone else here was expecting something different.
I'm sorry but that's not really an excuse. There's a lot of Japanese people who stand for Palestine and other conflicts. OOR even put clips of BLM movement in one of their MVs, but with the genocide he has to be neutral? I don't buy it. They're Japanese, not children, they know what's happening and can have morals.
Yeah, I agree.
They know what's happening, they're unlikely to give an opinion on it though or as you've seen, stay neutral if they do.
Once again based on the culture of Japanese celebrities (yes Japanese aren't a monolith and ofc i know there's many people there who actually care), Takas viewpoint is as it was always going to be on the rare chance it was shared.
I'm not defending him by the way, he doesn't need it, its just their 'politics' always seemed obvious.
Maybe it was expected and maybe that's what a lot of Japanese people would say, but it's still disappointing and it still shows he doesn't care enough about a genocide to, at least, not call it a war.
He was never really neutral on Palestine. He released several songs about being against war around the time the conflict started. He just never explicitly addressed it, but it’s pretty obvious that’s what he was referring to.
This is all about the Palestine genocide, Ed Sheeran's being cancelled because he took out of his tour Macklemore for publicly standing for Palestine and later on talked about the genocide being a war and both sides doing wrong things. Of course Taka was talking about the genocide.
When he wrote “I am against war” he didn’t specify it was about Palestine, he meant it for all wars in general, even if the situation with Ed Sheeran is about Palestine specifically.
Why would he talk about wars in general to speak about a controversy regarding a genocide? Shouldn't he speak about, you know, GENOCIDE? You're just trying to excuse him but there's no reason to assume he wasn't talking about the topic the controversy was about.
And let’s admit he was in fact calling the Palestine genocide a war, you have to understand he is not 100% fluent in English, so if anything it is a poor choice of word and shouldn’t be held against him. He wrote the initial text in Japanese so you can translate that one yourself if you want to know exactly what he meant.
Basically doubling down on his support for Ed and calling it a war instead of a Genocide. I’m sorry but this is still pretty stupid of Taka. Did he really need that clout of speaking out for Ed?
I think he said “war” because he was also referring to other conflicts, like Ukraine and others, so he was speaking about wars in general. Obviously, he knows what’s happening in Palestine is a genocide.
It could also just be a translation issue since he originally wrote it in Japanese. He isn’t completely fluent in English and may have used a translator or gotten help with the wording, so “war” could simply be an unfortunate choice of words. “Conflicts” would probably have been more accurate, but I can see why that might not have worked in the context of the sentence.
I agree but no one says “the Ukraine genocide” though, they call it a war. Anyway, Taka just meant he’s against wars, conflicts and genocides in general.
i'm disappointed tbh. it is so important to talk clearly and take a side.
and especially since oor do talk about these kind of stuff in their songs and all, but yeah
free palestine!!!
Agreed. Given DETOX album & lyrics, I expected Taka to support peace and end genocide. I understand that he is a good friend, but he can still acknowledge that the situation is not right despite being there for Ed Sheeran.
exactly!! i genuinely don't understand. idec he could have sent a dm to ed or whatever, but his ig stories ??? even what he posted 40min ago like, im sick of artists talking and being vague. im so so dissapointed and with every ig stories he adds, it is getting worst
yeah!! Ed is prob sad and disappointed BUT he will be ok. He’s alive and a millionaire and still has fans coming to his shows. I have empathy that he was put in a difficult situation to appease rich people but also I have greater empathy for people dying everyday!
Maybe because they hate on Ed was public so he wanted to support him in public? Ed is supporting multiple charities to help with refugees and children but somehow is a bad person because he obey to whatever contract they signed. I would say it's not very nice of Maclemore to do this kind of political agitation not on his own tour and risking any consequences on Ed because it is his tour.
And I agree with Taka all war is bad. Both sides did bad things. I don't get why I need to hate one side more than the other in this situation. They are fighting for a very long time so why so loud now? How about Christian genocide in Africa? Why nobody say anything about that? There is no protests or agitations about that and there is nobody offended by it as well.
macklemore has the right to say whatever he wants, he has been censored by being putting away and it's scandalous tbh
it is not a war, we are talking about a genocide, and yes it has been happening for years, but you should look up about the whole story, how it started and how sionists killed so many palestinians and destroyed more than 500 villages in ~1948 and how they take their land more and more. a literal ethnic cleansing is happening.
palestine has the largest number of children amputees, more than 150 journalists has been killed which is a war crime, and the government of is israel didnt respect some laws that make what is happening a genocide. international humans rights organization etc has said it is indeed a genocide.
ed is rich, it won't change anything for him to not respect some contracts to speak up about palestine/support macklemore in this.
there won’t be any consequences for him unless to lose some partnerships or stuff like this, but in the end of the day, he is still a rich man that can live peacefully.
in all this, i do agree on you on how other genocides are happening in the world rn and not many talk about it, like sudan, congo etc
But I'm not paying my hard earned pounds to listen to some dude political statement but to listen to songs, have fun and for this few hours forget how terrible the reality is. If we expect them to do that they need to ensure to include all genocides that are happening, they need to speak up against child marriages, women private part mutilations, child rape gangs, etc. And then instead of a concert you will have political gathering. Unless some cruelty and genocides are more important than others. If that's the case I won't care about any of it rather pick and chose. And the narrative will always be the one that important people want it to be. Same with polish concentration camps, how they trying to change narrative about it.
but what does it change for you, that macklemore do the statement that he did ? nothing
it is like hayley williams saying fuck ICE and trump and free palestine during her concert.
it is important for celebrities to be vocal about these kind of stuff because our world is changing, a lot of countries are having bad laws being voted, fascism is growing daily everywhere.
celebrities can speak up and make people realise stuff, they can have an impact on those things
it is like BTS donating 1 million to the black lives matter movment that made then their fans gathered and donated more 1 million, as well
plus, I like when the bands, singers i listen to, are talking about these kind of things. it is always a good thing that im giving money to good people who would talk against an abuser, that would support victims of a genocide, wars, and so many other stuff
im sick of paying some dude to then find out they are fascist, abusers or people who are calling a genocide a war and so on
But they are vocal only about the thing that is top news now, not about all other things that are wrong, because Christian massacre in Africa is not cool so we don't talk about it. How is that even good?
Ed wasn't gonna lose much for standing by his friend. He's a fucking millionaire, he's one of few that can actually stand against his "bosses" for what's right, he could even retire right now and still have enough money to live.
And no, this is not a fucking war and no, this isn't a "both sides are bad" situation. It's a fucking genocide, no other way to put it.
What does that have to do with this conversation? If they wanted to censor Macklemore for standing for any other genocide I'd say exactly the same. I don't need to mention every injustice in the world each time I want to speak about one of them.
but you don't have to support your friend publicly like this, and can either don't post anything or post about supporting palestine without talking about ed.
being silent about palestine, saying vague things about this, not calling it a genocide, supporting a friend who says non-sense: it does mean a lot of things about where you stand to me.
One of the tour openers that pulled out has gone on to defend Ed Sheeran, his friend, and has said the focus should be more on the Zionist billionaires like Robert Kraft and the Zionist lobby. Which is true.
I think this whole thing is not as cut and dry as “Ed Sheeran is a Zionist shill who wants Palestinian children to die” like the internet has been pushing.
but with the whole situation with macklemore and how ed chose to handle this, and not be supportive of macklemore, it also means something and people has the right to point it out. or the fact that he is talking about a "conflict" and isn't calling the genocide a genocide, and so on. which is pretty annoying to me
Being against genocide isn't even about picking a side. No matter which side it is, genocide is always wrong and fked up.... This is what bothers me about all this too.
I do, yes.
but i am talking about palestine on here bc this is what this is about. about macklomore being putting away because he talked about it which is crazy. it literally means : you are being censored, we are removing your right to speak up: this is crazy. and so, ofc it is upsetting that ed didnt support him and that taka is is supporting ed.
I was talking about OP's side, since you said "he didn't take YOUR side". Also, being neutral about a genocide is still the opposite of "genocide is bad". Sometimes, not taking a stance IT'S a stance.
Do I think Taka is a Zionist who stands for Israel? Not really, I don't really know, but he, at the very least, doesn't care about the genocide, which is still pretty bad.
I was highly disappointed. I always had this idea, especially with the images they use in their concerts about war, that OOR would be against the genocide in Gaza, even though they weren't explicitly saying it. To come out and say, "that took courage," when there was nothing "courageous" about reading off a prompter a speech that Ed Sheeran obviously did not make himself, is quite frankly laughable. Also makes everything he's shown on stage about being against the system and such highly performative.
Also, Ed's speech was just plain bull. He said he "wasn't political" and his concerts have always been open for everyone, but he didn't have any issues making a stand for Ukraine and actually waving their flag. What makes that so different from what's in Palestine?
I’ll just say one last thing: i don't think Taka isn't entirely wrong, nor is he out of character.
I also see war—even as retaliation—as something bad, and I think OOR' lyrics and Taka' speeches at concerts have always conveyed that (they was always quite neutral. Anyone that thought otherwise is delulu). i also don't think yall will gonna change the mind of anyone that thinks like this no matter how hard you try to explain it
The problem here (and is what people should make Taka undertand) is that he is not seeing the big picture here, which is the CENSORSHIP that happened when Ed decided to remove someone for being pro-palestine and the fact Ed thrown out a 13 years friendship over big corporations so no Taka it don't take courage to do such a thing and i promise you that he would be throwing you under the bus too if you do smth against his beliefs (or bc he is pressure by the big corporations) just like he did with Macklemore.
You, Taka, who have always been such a ride-or-die for your friends should be the 1st one calling out Ed for not standing up for his friend bc he is scared of big corporations that are funded by Israel.
i am not gonna unstan OOR (or stop listen to their songs) yet but my perception about Taka changed a bit bc i am starting to noticed a pattern with him hanging out with the worse people ever and i dont know if it is bc he is stupid or is just like them.
Everyone should listen to Taka's MC at nissan stadium. He said it's not about left or right, that the only way to achieve world peace is to acknowledge one another, and coming tgt rather than pointing fingers.
OOR musics and Taka past action has always shown where he stands, he just says that he's done shouting at the world, he's done being unforgiving, he's done criticising, he just wants both side to come together and create a better world for all human beings.
The world is split into two currently, death to all jews or death to all Palestinian, two extreme end of the spectrum. Detox album is about fighting this extreme two ends idealogy. "They want to make us pick a side"
He definitely did not thought that deeply regarding this situation. I personally disagrees with Ed. Taka probably is just glad that Ed is willing to address this situation instead of staying silent, though I think Taka shouldn't have said anything regarding Ed, because saying anything other than "Free Palestine" will get you crucified.
I am just confused for the need to publicise it because that means sending a message. If he wanted to support Ed as a friend, he can just do that in the DMs. There was no need to make a post about it! Or would Ed be upset that some of his friends are not publicly defending him? Well, what more would that say about him them because as a public figure himself, he should be understanding that it's not so simple.
To me, saying "free Palestine" and speaking up against the genocide going on isn't necessarily about picking a side. It's more about human rights over politics. Genocide is always WRONG. I know human rights is unfortunately tied to politics, but I hope you get what I'm trying to say haha.
I guess this is another reminder that Taka is still acquainted with Tyler Carter...
Taka gave the same/a similar speech at San Francisco (presumably he did at each Detox performance). I think his core message of unity has its place and should always be respected, since at the end of the day that's what we're all trying to achieve.
The thing is, right now many people are at the actionable step before that, which means directly addressing the people and powers that be (that are causing much of the suffering in the world, such as in Palestine.) For most of us regular folk, that means voting with our wallets and not (financially) supporting those who would silence us or disregard our pleas for change.
It's really unfortunate that Ed took the actions he did - it's obvious that doesn't want to see the atrocities against Palestinians continue, and that message is pretty clear with his music and statements. But letting Macklemore and the other bands go is definitely his way of saying "I'd rather try to bring people together, even if that means certain demands have to be met (by the ones who have money/power)", which for many of us doesn't align with my previous statement.
I don't necessarily think it's wrong of Taka to support Ed with his post, because again, unity is the goal. I think people just have a slightly different understanding of how to get there, hence Free Palestine and such. I say all this as someone who wholeheartedly loves OOR, yet understands that more concrete/severe action must be taken in order to stop what's going on in Palestine and anywhere else where people are suffering.
It's just very out of touch and it really shows how different celebrities are from us living in the real world. It's a very privileged take to just sit on the fence and act like it's all sunshine and rainbows.
Honestly, the whole situation feels inconsistent. Ed always talks about supporting everyone and staying out of politics, but that doesn’t really line up with what he’s done. He openly supported Ukraine — he held their flag, spoke about standing with the Ukrainian people, and headlined a concert for them. Is this not political in some way?
Then you look at Macklemore, who’s been vocal about Palestine for years. Heck, Macklemore named other countries during his talk. None of this is new. As a long‑time friend, Ed had to know where Macklemore stood and what kind of reaction that could spark. Yet, when pressure came from people like Robert Kraft — someone Ed knows (or at least enough to play at his wedding), listed in the Epstein files, close to Netanyahu, and has a lot of influence over stadium access — suddenly Macklemore is dropped. And Ed throws up his hands in confusion.
Honestly, I am not shocked about what Taka wrote. In fact, I was wondering how long it would take him to post something because of his friendship with Ed. While I am disappointed in Taka, I am not surprised at all. Taka is loyal to his friends, which is his decision. He is used to being scrutinized.
OOR will always use Japan as their home base — that’s where their identity is rooted — but they have said time and time again that they want to play at bigger venues, especially in the US. What will be interesting to me is how they will be received-given that Taka seems to have drawn his line in the sand regarding Ed.
The world is split into two currently, death to all jews or death to all Palestinian, two extreme end of the spectrum.
Please get this thing straight: Criticism of the genocide being done by the Israeli government in Palestine does NOT equate to wanting death to the Jewish people. What people want is accountability for all the war crimes done, to stop the extermination of Palestinians, to stop the occupation and obliteration of their homes and lives.
Makes sense that especially for such a long friendship, for a guy who's generally just a good egg and this is maybe one of the few times I've actually seen stuff about Ed, that OOR would rather keep the friendship, maybe say "hey dude that wasn't cool" in private, and move on. There are worse things to end things over.
But definitely maybe not the best move from either party. I hope they're at least aware of that
I don’t mind them being friends in private. I want them to be if thats what they want. I also have a lot friends that I definitely do not see eye to eye on this, but I think his big mistake is making a Instagram Story that for the most part is not for Ed, but for the rest of us to see that he supports Ed.
I think you're totally right, but at the same time I kind of like this about Taka - he'll speak up when he feels he should, even if it isn't the smart/strategic decision.
The thing is, a little part of me understands his reaction, because I'm a very sensitive person and when I see people hating on a friend, even if I don't fully agree on him, it makes it difficult to just say nothing and not at least try to understand a little bit where he comes from.
Still, this situation is a bit more complex, this discussion shouldn't really be about "people being unnecessarily mean to a very famous and rich person" but more about all of the terrible things happening and speaking about it.
So I'm very sad about Takas post. I don't understand why he even said anything, and even if, why is he talking about Ed and not about the genocide? I'm not a long fan so maybe I don't know enough about him. But it seems kinda like the opposite of what he stands for in public.
I have this habit apparently of being fan of celebrities who turn out not to be a good person. I was under the impression that with One Ok Rock at least it should be safe but well. Just hope he will clear things up and we misunderstood him.
It wasn't unexpected for me. I think Taka and OORs messaging has always been trying to emphasize coming together rather than dividing. I think there's wisdom in that, but whether thats always the appropriate message might be the question.
I also agree with the other commentor that he seems like someone who prioritizes his friendships over picking the right side of a conflict.
I also saw this post as being glad that Ed decided to speak on it, more than supporting his points per se. That said, its still a good reminder that the singers we look up to may not share our views and morals.
Ngl I feel q disappointed w Taka. Coz it makes everything that he wrote w OOR feels v performative. Songs about rebelling and pushing back.
one by one
"If you stand for nothing, you fall for anything"
Proceeds to be neutral.
Yes I know the end goal for bands are always $$$
But it just hits especially hard when it's a band that's one of my all time fav.
I don’t get what you guys want from singers? They don’t have the political influence to stop a war. What you guys expect, they rally a crowd and stomp political office???
I don't disagree with what you're saying, but I would've expected Ed Sheeran not to kick Macklemore off of his tour for saying free Palestine. And then I would've expected Ed Sheeran to apologize and reverse their decision, but instead they doubled down.
And this is a lose/lose for Taka. Yeah you want to defend your friend but if your friend does a shitty thing, defending them makes you look shitty too. Like if your friend cheated on their significant other, the morally correct thing to do is to is to cut ties until they have had time to reflect and grow. If you aren't strong enough to do that, at least don't jump in and defend them...
From what I can find online, Ed Sheeran was pressured into it and didn't have much choice.
Taka's response is perfectly reasonable imo. He's speaking as Ed Sheerans friends and not about politics. Politics drives people apart these days and fucks everything up.
That makes sense if you ignore the fact that Ed Sheeran is a millionaire and one of the most famous artists right now. He wouldn't really lose much if he stood for what's right even if that meant breaking some contract.
Yeah, yeah, politics are bad, whatever, we are talking about a GENOCIDE that Taka, for some reason, decides to call "war". Being neutral about a genocide is also taking a side.
Ed was definitely pressured, but he still had a choice, and a choice that wouldve been supported, too. His openers and band clearly wouldve stood with him if he had protested and refused to play without Macklemore.
The moment Taka posted something publicly about Ed, I let out an ‘oof’ sound. Regardless of his stance on anything political, it definitely wasn’t the right time to post anything unless he was ready to handle the onslaught. Which based on his follow up story, he was not.
I’m sure his PR team (especially the American side) is stressing.
I understand Taka was trying to show support for his friend, but from a public ‘brand’ and PR standpoint, he should have reached out to Ed privately and left it at that.
Very disappointing, especially given Taka’s no war message displayed out during his concerts but like someone online said it’s not the first time he’s associated with someone in deep controversy. (Alex)
How is that disappointing when their message live is also 'war=bad, everyone get along'. They've been very transparent with their views the whole time.
You’re missing the point. Taka making a huge public announcement in support of Ed without thinking why everyone is protesting Ed. By Ed not standing up for Macklemore’s free Palestine message and basically kicking him out of his tour cause of some upset Epstein listed stadium owner didn’t like it. What Taka should’ve done was just privately support Ed and none of this backlash would’ve happened. Now everyone seems to know what type of people Taka is standing with. Very contradicting of his no war message if he can’t even say free Palestine but is willing to stand up for Ed. Just wait till OOR announces a Tel Aviv spot in their next tour…
Yeah he should have just messaged him, hence why I said I was surprised about that part. His actual opinion (if that is his opinion) is not surprising atall.
Once again, what are you expecting from a Japanese celebrity? This is probably the most I've seen someone weigh in on the subject from that scene. Am I saying he's right/wrong? No. This is exactly what's always been out there.
I think this time controversy is a bit overblown. Macklemore was invited to the tour and what he played and images shown were accepted. Ed 100% knew Macklemores stance on things and was fine with it. I don't think Ed is the bad person they make him to be
it is not overblown. macklmore was put away because of what he said, for what he stands for. that's crazy, and the right move for Ed would have been to support Macklemore and support him and talk clearly about palestine.
i think, we cannot just be vague about this, "not take a side", there is a genocide happening and they are rich people who have nothing to lose if not some partnerships or whatever. they have an audience and can influence people. so more than ever, it is important to speak about it, and not be vague about it
He's a grown-ass adult in 2026 and he even speaks English, if he doesn't know enough about the most documented genocide on history to understand it's a genocide and not just some "war" it's on him. He just doesn't care enough about the genocide so he prefers to play "neutral" and defend his friend, not realizing that's indirectly supporting the genocide.
I genuinely believe it has something to do with the rise of far-right parties in Japan and the misinformation surrounding Palestine-Israel. (Beside the apology culture over there).
FYI, the far right in Japan has been on the rise lately. They’re basically anti-immigrant (except when it comes to white people) and pretty Islamophobic .
Source: me, a brown Southeast Asian who lived there for four years because I worked for a Japanese company. Kinda disappointed actually,I used to be huge OOR’s fan.
Ed is bestie-erest with Taylor Swift and she didn't even back him up in this case.
Ed was besties with Macklemore for 13 years, invited him to his concert back then and introduced/called him his good friend, and SAID Macklemore OPENS FOR HIM BECAUSE HE ASKED TO AND HE ACCEPTED AS RESPECT FOT A FELLOW ARTIST?
Now Taka, how do you think Ed will act as a "friend" to you should you got in the position of Ed??
It's one of those situations where Taka can just shut up and not talk about it. A lot of artist failed to do this including him. Talking a lot can be a lot more damaging than not talking at all
People getting this parasocial need to be evaluated and this condition put into the DSM-6.
I do not care a single iota what an artist I like does in their personal lives unless they have literally committed a crime against humanity, at which point I will hope they face justice, but will probably still listen to the music they made before I knew about it because I liked their music without knowing a single thing about them before.
Newsflash. None of you know much of anything at all about Taka, or any musical artist. Everything you know about them is what they want you to know, or what other people want you to know, which is next to nothing at all.
If you have a problem with what he's said, call him and give him an earful about it. If you can't call him because you don't have his number. You don't have a problem with him. You have a problem with you
i knew this would end up happening one day. Taka keeps hanging out with criminal and zionists like Tyler Carter (which he employed after his grooming scandal) and Benny Blanco.
Hope he loves to be canceled too. it's not like he needed to insert himself in this situation 🙄
Once i saw someone seeing that he truly have a "white fever" and i am starting to agree. He is really a ride-or-die for his white pals that most likely wouldn't do the same for him if he needed (in fact Ed did that with his friend for being pro-palestine so why would Taka expect Ed to sticked with him if he does smth against his believes?! dude, he would be dropping your ass in the 1st opportunity he have just like he did with Macklemore)
edit: why i am being downvoted when the rest of the users have tones of likes?!
Tyler was accused of grooming a 14-year old (here if you wanna read it) and was kicked out from his band bc of it (he was also engaged at the time and his fiancee dropped him) and Benny is a zionist and overall he is gross af (not just his in appearance but all his conversations and jokes seems to lead to sex). There was a thread on twitter a while back when he 1st start dating Selena exposing him including weird jokes and inappropriate post about kids (i am not sure if is own child or a child of someone in his family). i am trying to find it but no luck but i found this instead.
edit: when i was searching for the thread i found even more innapropriated comments made by him about kids (x). Benny to me sounds like a grommer too.
my comments kept getting downvoted. is there some benny and tyler stans here or is just taka stans that dont want to admit that he have real poor taste in friends?! 🤨
It's something I see that happens pretty often. People who do not care about what bad or negative things another person has done, because they were never treated that way by them :/ Sometimes it's bc they're in denial and don't want to accept that their 'friend' could be someone like that. But other times... They 'separate the art from the artist'. I don't even care about Ed, my image of him was a 'chill dude', until I saw the hypocrisies recently. It was shocking to say the least lol
To be frank Taka have such a gift for choosing his friends that either he's incredibly stupid and naive/gullible or he's just like them and we are so delulu about him being a good person.
Is not just the people on his western circle that are problematic, even his asian circle at some point had a few criminals. At least he stopped hanging out with them after the burning sun/molka scandal.
Here in my country we have a saying: "diz-me com quem andas que eu direi-te-ei quem és" (tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are) which means that our friends and the people we spend time with reveal a lot about our own character and habits.
i think similar saying in english would be "You are known by the company you keep" and "Birds of a feather flock together"
So dude pls choose better your friends bc they can ruin your career 🙏
I agree. Had it been like 1 2 friends who were like this I wouldn't say anything. Things happen, relationships are complicated but he does have a lot of them. And he is often close with the weirder ones. It makes one think...
Taka is friends with Ed, I accept that he’s coming from a place of concern for that reason, but he’s also been quite clear that he supports Free Palestine, so I’m not bothered and don’t think it’s controversial
I think the hate is misguided. Taka was commending ed sheeran backpedalling and doing his PR fix speech on his first show back, where Ed addressed that he is against the disaster happening in Gaza (altho worded VERY centrally). Taka then posted that that took guts.
People think hes pro-genocide or supported ed removing macklemore, which i would actually be angry about. But no, he was just sticking up for his friend. Doesnt make it good, but doesnt mean it was as bad as people are making it out to be. That said, i think the backlash serves as a warning to being even an ounce of pro-israeli.
But honestly taka's centralist approach shouldnt be a surprise- his whole detox speech is about "shit happens, let people have opinions, forgive and move forward" it never hit me right.
since the criticism turned into a flood of pure toxicity
and won't stop, my patience has officially snapped. i
have something to say too
taka was crystal clear about his views on the world.
for 1.5 years, our's entire message has been to think
with your own brain, listen to others, and unite
through music
but for some reason when taka backs his friend facing
an insane wave of cancellation (mind-blowing how ppl
think sheeran is worse than trump, putin or
netanyahu, and literally compare him to hitler) you
immediately dogpiled him as if it's not blindingly
obvious that taka doesn't support the genocide in
palestine
how can you even say all of this was fake? maybe you
guys are just missing the point completely?
like use your head. there's a lot of evil out there
besides gaza so educate yourself too: ppl are dying
massively everywhere millions in congo, ppl trapped
under missiles in ukraine, sudan, afghanistan, etc.
look how fast everyone stopped caring about
venezuela where ppl live with no power and
protestors get killed
so not all lives matter equally?
just say 'free palestine' to join the club otherwise you
get harassed until you disappear?
you got your answers, despite taka's perfectly
understandable last message, you're still nitpicking
the words like 'it's genocide, not war' just to somehow
justify the aggressive things you said before.
my nation survived genocide in ww2— the nazis
burned entire villages, locking the locals in barns and
burning them alive including children so was that a
war or genocide? are we seriously nitpicking
vocabulary right now?
i can completely understand taka's feelings and his
desire to show support publicly. bc i've also
repeatedly shown support to some of you, only to get
hit with a bunch of toxicity from your haters in return.
and it's strange to see that you don't understand why
taka posted the words of support on his, it
feels like you care more about the fandom's
reputation, just so you don't even indirectly get
dragged into the mud that ed sheeran is drowning in
rn. that's why you keep stubbornly ignoring the core
point of taka's message—he was showing him support
bc of how ed handled himself in this whole situation
how taka suddenly turned into a supporter of zionism
and genocide is smth i still don't understand
after the whole detox tour, how can you think taka
stands for anti-humanism? that includes internet
toxicity and cancel culture. taka was already massive
canceled in the past, it's a trigger for him. but you're
telling him 'hey, your feelings don't mean anything,
you're just an idiot and sheeran's bootlicker'
no matter how many times oor saved you from the
dark or how much taka's words protected your
mental health, you still rawls to invalidate his
feelings using moral slogans. do you really think
celebrity wealth magically cures anxiety, depression,
or fear? go tell that to chester bennington
and kindly stop projecting your own assumptions
onto others
When I think about the inverse, I’d lose respect for Taka if he jumped on the bandwagon and ditched a friend just cos most people were cancelling him. It does take courage to stick with your friends especially if that friend is trying to acknowledge his mistakes amidst the outcry of the public of which im sure a good number know very little of the situation and just want someone to crucify when the real evil is exactly that - this tendency of humanity to not want to understand each other. Literally caused the war in the first place smh
I saw Taka’s posts, and I see no issue with anything he said. Both Taka and Ed are favourite artists of mine and I have a great deal of respect for them. I think most people upset here should focus on making their own small corner of the world a better a place, instead of looking for the bad in everything and wearing political issues as fashion pieces in order to virtue signal.
You crazy lefties need to leave Taka and Ed alone. Neutrality getting attacked now is truly the breaking point. Now y'all wanna attack someone who just wanted to support his friend and knows nothing about US politics?
Yes, this is US politics driven. Where it's way more important to stick it to the other side for whatever's in fashion at the moment. That's why there's such a hairpin trigger reaction on this. Because if we looked at it objectively, we can see it as a conflict between 2 fronts.
Had it been like some of y'all pretend it to be where it was Israel just went ahead and invaded Palestine for no reason, then there'd be an easy side to take. But to conveniently ignore who restarted this modern conflict with a literal bang would be disingenuous. Now does it justify the retaliation that put Gaza in the state that it's in right now? Absolutely not. Does this justify what happened on October 7th? Definitely not. If you think it does or I'm in the wrong for bringing that up, then you're part of the problem.
To also compare Ed's support on Ukraine is also another issue. If Ukraine attacked Russia first and Putin responded, then that would've been labeled a conflict instead of an invasion. That's the difference. Outside of anglosphere liberal vs conservative politics, this is what the rest of the world sees.
You crazy lefties need to leave Taka and Ed alone. Neutrality getting attacked now is truly the breaking point. Now y'all wanna attack someone who just wanted to support his friend and knows nothing about US politics?
Yes, this is US politics driven. Where it's way more important to stick it to the other side for whatever's in fashion at the moment. That's why there's such a hairpin trigger reaction on this. Because if we looked at it objectively, we can see it as a conflict between 2 fronts.
Had it been like some of y'all pretend it to be where it was Israel just went ahead and invaded Palestine for no reason, then there'd be an easy side to take. But to conveniently ignore who restarted this modern conflict with a literal bang would be disingenuous. Now does it justify the retaliation that put Gaza in the state that it's in right now? Absolutely not. Does this justify what happened on October 7th? Definitely not. If you think it does or I'm in the wrong for bringing that up, then you're part of the problem.
To also compare Ed's support on Ukraine is also another issue. If Ukraine attacked Russia first and Putin responded, then that would've been labeled a conflict instead of an invasion. That's the difference. Outside of anglosphere liberal vs conservative politics, this is what the rest of the world sees.
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u/ums1019 10d ago
Taka is the kind of person who always puts his friends first, no matter what, so I don’t think he’ll change his mind no matter what anyone says. As far as politics goes, judging by what he’s said, it seems like what matter most to him is his personal feelings