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Protesters began gathering Saturday evening near Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia<\/a> ahead of Ed Sheeran\u2019s first concert since Macklemore was dropped<\/a> as an opener following the rapper\u2019s pro-Palestinian remarks onstage. <\/p>\n Dozens of activists, some of whom carried Palestinian flags and signs that read \u201cGaza: Aid In Soldiers Out,\u201d gathered near SEPTA<\/a>\u2019s NRG Station just after 4 p.m. to decry Macklemore\u2019s firing from the British pop star\u2019s North American \u201cLoop Tour,\u201d calling the move an act of censorship. Since the \u201cThrift Shop\u201d rapper was removed from the billing, several other supporting acts have quit in solidarity. <\/p>\n In a statement, Philadelphia\u2019s Jewish Voice for Peace said the opposition to Macklemore\u2019s removal \u2014 from the exodus of the other performers to plummeting resale ticket values and demonstrations outside the Linc \u2014 shows that \u201csupport for Palestinian liberation is growing daily.\u201d <\/p>\n The concert was scheduled to start at 8 p.m., according to the listing on Ticketmaster<\/a>, where tickets were reselling for as low as $32.25 hours before the start time. On Friday afternoon, the least expensive ticket on the resale website had been $66.30. <\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Here\u2019s what we know about Ed Sheeran\u2019s tour stop at the Linc<\/a><\/p>\n During shows earlier this month at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., while performing his 2024 protest song, \u201cHind\u2019s Hall,\u201d about pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University, Macklemore chanted \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and a screen behind him showed footage from the war in Gaza. In \u201cHind\u2019s Hall\u201d and in his statements to the crowd, Macklemore implied that he believes the conflict is a genocide. <\/p>\n Macklemore and Sheeran posted dueling Instagram statements this week. Macklemore said <\/a>he had been fired after venues told the tour\u2019s promoter they would prohibit the rapper from performing because of his comments. Sheeran said<\/a> that venues threatened to \u201cpull\u201d forthcoming shows if Macklemore stayed on the billing because of how he \u201cconveyed part of his message.\u201d Those venues included the Linc, Rolling Stone reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n Both performers attributed these statements to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group also owns Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., where Sheeran\u2019s \u201cLoop Tour\u201d is scheduled to stop later this month. Macklemore said Kraft \u201crallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum.\u201d <\/p>\n In a widely reported statement<\/a>, Kraft, who is Jewish, confirmed he had Macklemore removed as an opening act because of his \u201crecent actions,\u201d material from the New Jersey shows, and \u201ca broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.\u201d <\/p>\n Gillette Stadium \u201c[does] not provide a platform for hate speech,\u201d the statement said, and Macklemore\u2019s participation in the concert would \u201ccross that line.\u201d <\/p>\n Near the Linc, protester Jodi Rhoden criticized Kraft\u2019s role in Macklemore\u2019s firing. <\/p>\n \u201cEven Ed Sheeran isn\u2019t free of it,\u201d she said. \u201cHe had to kick his buddy off his tour because Robert Kraft told him to, because of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Others, including Bucks County-bred pop star Pink<\/a> \u2014 who reposted social media posts critical of Macklemore\u2019s performance \u2014 have cited a 2014 incident where Macklemore wore a costume with a false nose and beard that many saw as antisemitic. At the time, Macklemore said that was not his intention and apologized. <\/p>\n \u201cMore than once, Macklemore\u2019s actions have demonstrated hostility toward the Jewish community,\u201d Jason Holtzman, chief of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, said in a statement. <\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Free Palestine\u2019 means different things to different people,\u201d his statement continued. \u201cWhen the slogan comes from a stadium stage, from someone with this history, a Jewish person in the crowd has no way of knowing which meaning is intended. For Jewish concert goers, that ambiguity is deeply unsettling.\u201d <\/p>\n In a social media post<\/a>, Pink, who is Jewish, took issue with Macklemore showing \u201cviolent images\u201d of Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza and \u201c[telling] all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn\u2019t about them.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I\u2019m not asking now. I don\u2019t need anyone fired, and I don\u2019t need a refund,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWhat I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, \u2018that scared me, and it scared people I love,\u2019 without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I\u2019m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed?\u201d<\/p>\n Holtzman said Macklemore \u201cremains free to express his views,\u201d while private tour organizers and venues \u201care free to decide that his conduct is inconsistent with the environment they want to create for their audiences.\u201d <\/p>\n The Linc is publicly owned by the City of Philadelphia. <\/p>\n On Thursday, the Philadelphia chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it had requested records through Pennsylvania\u2019s Right-to-Know Law to determine whether Kraft had communicated with Philadelphia or Linc officials about Macklemore\u2019s performance. <\/p>\n It\u2019s unknown what the request may yield, if anything. But Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of CAIR-Philadelphia, said in a statement that Philadelphians should know who made the decision and whether Macklemore\u2019s pro-Palestinian stance was a factor. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople are free to agree or disagree with Macklemore,\u201d Tekelioglu\u2019s statement said. \u201cBut when institutional power is used to remove an artist from a major Philadelphia stage following his political speech, transparency and accountability are reasonable expectations \u2014 especially given the public\u2019s relationship to this stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n Macklemore, who has long been outspoken about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, wrote on Instagram: \u201cTaking a side can cost you. Money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access. I\u2019ve lost all of those things.\u201d <\/p>\n Sheeran\u2019s other supporting acts, Finneas<\/a>, Aaron Rowe<\/a>, and Lukas Graham<\/a>, and the Irish backing band Beoga<\/a>, have also dropped out of the tour. The North American leg of the \u201cLoop Tour\u201d is scheduled to wrap up Nov. 7 in Tampa, Fla. <\/p>\n This article contains information from the Associated Press.<\/p>\n