{"id":624623,"date":"2026-09-14T18:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T18:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/624623\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T18:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T18:48:09","slug":"macklemore-kicked-off-ed-sheeran-tour-for-pro-palestine-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/624623\/","title":{"rendered":"Macklemore Kicked Off Ed Sheeran Tour for Pro-Palestine Comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Macklemore<\/a> says Ed Sheeran<\/a> booted him from his U.S. tour after venues planned to cancel shows over the rapper\u2019s pro-Palestine comments. In a statement posted to Instagram, Macklemore accused<\/a> New England Patriots\u2019 owner Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, of threatening to pull Sheeran\u2019s concert if the rapper was not removed as a support act. He also alleged Kraft rallied owners of other tour venues to follow suit, prompting Sheeran\u2019s team and Messina Touring Group to ultimately kick him off the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cEd was in a fucked up position,\u201d Macklemore wrote of his longtime friend and \u201cbrother,\u201d\u00a0adding that they had spoken multiple times about the matter on the phone. \u201cHe knew it. His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before.\u201d Sheeran told Macklemore that people objected to the phrase \u201cFree Palestine,\u201d uttered during the rapper\u2019s two prior support dates on the tour. (Those actions irked, among others, Pink, who said<\/a>, at the center of her own subsequent firestorm, \u201cWhat I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, \u2018that scared me, and it scared people I love.\u2019\u201d) Macklemore, in his telling, responded to Sheeran that those words should not be \u201cmore offensive than tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel.\u201d Sheeran, Macklemore added, \u201ccouldn\u2019t get past his public facing, \u2018I don\u2019t take sides\u2019\u2026. [But] when one side has bombs and the bottomless financial and military support from America, refusing to take a side doesn\u2019t leave you in the middle.\u201d Macklemore also used his time onstage to show footage of the destruction in Gaza and to perform \u201cHind\u2019s Hall,\u201d his song named for Hind Rajab, a six-year-old killed by Israeli military.<\/p>\n

Macklemore added that he has been speaking in support of Palestine on stage for almost three years. \u201cSo why is it an issue now? Because now I\u2019m sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America. At a certain level of exposure, \u2018Free Palestine\u2019 becomes too much of a risk. If I kept doing the shows, saying Free Palestine, with Ed implicitly supporting it, the crowd getting loud and showing undeniable support for Palestinian liberation, what artist might speak out next? The stage becomes resistance. Maybe that\u2019s why this time it became so important to silence me.\u201d He also said his friendship with Sheeran would not \u201cdisappear because of one painful disagreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

A representative for Messina Touring Group confirmed to Pitchfork that multiple tour venues said they would \u201cnot allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.\u201d The company, which is part of AEG, added that Macklemore had been dropped \u201cafter discussions with stakeholders.\u201d The promoter, according to Rolling Stone<\/a>, said the following venues had joined Kraft\u2019s Gillette Stadium in objecting to Macklemore: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Pitchfork has emailed those venues for comment.<\/p>\n