{"id":608057,"date":"2026-09-06T22:28:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T22:28:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/608057\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T22:28:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T22:28:21","slug":"macklemores-free-palestine-plea-sparks-petition-for-his-removal-from-ed-sheeran-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/608057\/","title":{"rendered":"Macklemore\u2019s \u2018Free Palestine\u2019 plea sparks petition for his removal from Ed Sheeran tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

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American rapper Macklemore is facing backlash over his \u201cFree Palestine\u201d pleas<\/a> made onstage during Ed Sheeran\u2019s two nights in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

The \u201cThrift Shop\u201d musician, 43, took the stage as Sheeran\u2019s opening act <\/a>at MetLife Stadium on September 4 and 5, where he said \u201cFree Palestine\u201d before performing his 2024 protest song \u201cHind\u2019s Hall,\u201d <\/a>which condemns Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the Israeli-American Council launched a petition to Sheeran and his management, urging the musician to remove Macklemore from the remainder of the tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Ed Sheeran\u2019s September 4 concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, opening act Macklemore used the stage to deliver an extended political message, called for \u2018Free Palestine\u2019 and performed Hind\u2019s Hall while images from Gaza and other political messaging were projected across the stadium screens,\u201d the petition began.<\/p>\n

The IAC said the artist had used a \u201cglobal concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda\u201d and added: \u201cThis was an Ed Sheeran concert \u2014 not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MacklemoreMacklemore called for \u2018safety and peace\u2019 for children while speaking about Israel\u2019s war in Gaza (Getty)\"MacklemoreMacklemore is scheduled as the support act for eight more dates on Sheeran\u2019s Loop tour in the U.S. until November (Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis becomes even more troubling when the message relies on selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact, without context or complexity,\u201d the petition stated. <\/p>\n

The organization also called on Sheeran\u2019s team to \u201cclarify whether Macklemore\u2019s political speech, visual content, and performance of Hind\u2019s Hall were approved in advance, and to establish clear boundaries for the use of the tour stage to promote political messaging.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHind\u2019s Hall\u201d is inspired by the Columbia University protesters who, in 2024, unfurled a banner over the academic building Hamilton Hall to name it \u201cHind\u2019s Hall\u201d in tribute to a six-year-old Palestinian girl called Hind Rajab, who was killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza<\/a> while she was waiting for aid.<\/p>\n

Macklemore, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, told the audience during Friday\u2019s show that one of his main motivations for doing the tour was to share his message.<\/p>\n

\u201cA big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine,\u201d he told the audience, according to videos taken at the concert. \u201cI said, \u2018Free Palestine!\u2019 I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have an 11-year-old daughter, her name is Sloan, she\u2019s here tonight. And if any of you guys are parents, then you know that that love that you have for your kids cannot be put into words, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MacklemoreMacklemore released the 2024 song \u2018Hind\u2019s Hall\u2019 in support of pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia University (Getty)<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cI want to see her grow up, I want to see her go to school, to fall in love, to figure out meaning, purpose, joy, her existence on this planet. I want it to be the most beautiful possible. And I think that every single human being that walks this earth deserves that exact same feeling. To know safety and peace before they know the sound of violence, to know the sound of laughter on a playground before planes and bombs, for parents to be able to say bye to their kids in the morning and not have to wonder if this is going to be the last time they kiss their child goodbye.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if I let that fear I felt on the plane yesterday stop me from speaking my heart in order to keep my own comfort and the audience\u2019s comfort, that is the day I no longer continue to be on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I say, \u2018Free Palestine!\u2019 I say, free America, free Cuba to the Congo to Sudan to Iran, and all the people in America who have to live in fear because of this terrorist organization ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macklemore is scheduled as the support act for eight more dates on Sheeran\u2019s Loop tour in the U.S. until November.<\/p>\n

The artist has won four Grammys, including Best Rap Song for the 2012 song \u201cThrift Shop\u201d and Best Rap Album for The Heist.<\/p>\n

The Independent has contacted representatives for Sheeran and Macklemore for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7608,28396,972,458,18442,42,56930,275043,24513,57768,409,43,31921,1266,14337,2081,275276,178942,201108,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-608057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-7608","tag-arts-culture-and-entertainment","tag-australia","tag-celebrities","tag-concert","tag-headlines","tag-horizontal","tag-macklemore","tag-may","tag-melbourne-australia","tag-music","tag-news","tag-one-person","tag-people","tag-performance","tag-photography","tag-rod-laver-stadium","tag-stadium","tag-three-quarter-length","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}