{"id":858063,"date":"2026-09-23T18:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/858063\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T18:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:34:11","slug":"ed-sheeran-suffers-major-blow-as-macklemore-controversy-rages-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/858063\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran suffers major blow as Macklemore controversy rages on"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ed Sheeran has lost nearly 500,000 Instagram followers since Macklemore got kicked off his Loop Tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Macklemore announced that he was dropped<\/a> from the tour because of his pro-Palestine comments on Sept. 14.<\/p>\n

Before that announcement, Sheeran\u2019s Instagram follower count stood at 47.6 million, but now it stands at 47.2 million.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ed Sheeran (pictured at his Sept. 19 show) has lost nearly 500,000 Instagram followers since Macklemore got kicked off his Loop Tour. Kristen Sherwood\/Bav Media \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

Sheeran\u2019s Instagram follower count stood at 47.6 million but after the announcement, it now stands at 47.2 million.\u00a0 Kristen Sherwood\/Bav Media \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

The major blow comes as Sheeran revealed he\u2019s lost family and close friends<\/a> due to the controversy. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn these situations you really find out who your friends are. It\u2019s been a weird week,\u201d he tearfully told the crowd<\/a> at his Saturday show in video captured by a fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happened very quickly. At the same time, I had so many people telling me to cancel this tour and so many people I\u2019ve known for years and years and years they\u2019re kind of backing away.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his Sept. 19 show, the musician told his audience he\u2019s lost family and close friends due to the controversy. Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at the end of the week and I see 50,000 people who haven\u2019t abandoned me,\u201d he tearfully told the crowd. Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI look at the end of the week and I see 50,000 people who haven\u2019t abandoned me,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople will say what they want, but I am doing this for you. I love you. I love this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since igniting the controversy, all of Sheeran\u2019s opening acts quit<\/a> in solidarity with Macklemore.<\/p>\n

Ahead of Saturday\u2019s show in Philadelphia, the \u201cThinking Out Loud\u201d singer took drastic security measures<\/a> because he feared people would throw things at him onstage.<\/p>\n

Macklemore was fired after shouting \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and performing his 2024 protest song at MetLife Stadium earlier this month (seen above). Alec Gearty<\/p>\n

In solidarity with the rapper, all of Sheeran\u2019s opening acts have quit. Alec Gearty<\/p>\n

As Page Six previously reported, Macklemore was removed from the lineup<\/a> after shouting \u201cFree Palestine\u201d and performing his 2024 protest song \u201cHind\u2019s Hall\u201d during his set at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month.<\/p>\n

The \u201cThrift Shop\u201d rapper addressed his firing in a statement shared to Instagram, claiming that Sheeran and his team made the decision to drop him after being pressured by Robert Kraft \u2014 owner of the Kraft Group, which operates Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts\u00a0\u2014 and other stadium owners.<\/p>\n

According to Macklemore, Kraft \u201cgave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On Sept. 14, Macklemore (pictured with Sheeran in a throwback photo) told his Instagram followers that Sheeran and his team were pressured to fire him by billionaire Robert Kraft. SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

Macklemore claims Sheeran was given the ultimatum, \u201cif Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.\u201d via REUTERS<\/p>\n

Sheeran later addressed the situation in a statement on Instagram<\/a>, claiming that Macklemore\u2019s removal from the tour was the \u201cpromoter\u2019s decision,\u201d not his own, because his contract was \u201cwith the promoter\u201d rather than Sheeran.<\/p>\n

Sheeran insisted he tried to \u201cbuild a bridge\u201d between the two sides, but ultimately, the issue came down to the way \u201cMacklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to losing mass amounts of social media followers, Sheeran\u2019s own cousin Jethro Sheeran called him \u201cselfish,\u201d \u201cmalicious\u201d and \u201ccunning,\u201d<\/a> in a scathing Instagram post last week following the controversy.<\/p>\n

Sheeran (pictured with Macklemore in 2013), later said that his removal from the tour was the \u201cpromoter\u2019s decision,\u201d not his own. Kevin Mazur<\/p>\n

Many fans have demanded refunds due to Macklemore\u2019s removal from Loop Tour and have denounced Sheeran for not standing by the rapper. Ethan Miller<\/p>\n

\u201cHe puts out [a] fake narrative that\u2019s calculated just to keep everyone happy so he can do big, private gigs and keep brand deals, etc. I agree with all of the comments he\u2019s [gotten] and [the] bad press,\u201d Jethro wrote in part.<\/p>\n

Fans have also demanded refunds for their concert tickets<\/a> following Macklemore\u2019s removal.<\/p>\n

Sheeran\u2019s next tour dates are Friday and Saturday at Kraft\u2019s Gillette Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran has lost nearly 500,000 Instagram followers since Macklemore got kicked off his Loop Tour. Macklemore announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[91,94,6547,24229,88,229887,803,357624,216,1253,2485],"class_list":["post-858063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-celebrity-news","tag-celebrity-social-media","tag-concerts","tag-ed-sheeran","tag-entertainment","tag-hirings-and-firings","tag-israel","tag-macklemore","tag-music","tag-musicians","tag-palestine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}