The final leg of Ed Sheeran’s US tour is in crisis. The British singer has found himself at the eye of a media storm after opening act Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran’s remaining tour dates over the rapper’s “Free Palestine” comments at his gigs.
While the “Shape of You” singer explained that the decision to axe Macklemore came from promoter Messina Touring Group, after venues threatened to pull shows over the comments, that wasn’t good enough for the other artists due to support him on the forthcoming run of dates – with Finneas, Lukas Graham and others pulling out in solidarity with Macklemore.
With Sheeran’s Loop Tour in jeopardy just days before it’s set to continue in Philadelphia, here’s a breakdown of everything that’s led to this point.
Macklemore’s ‘Free Palestine’ comments
It all began at the start of September, with Macklemore – who was born Benjamin Haggerty – opening Sheeran’s September 4 and 5 gigs by performing his 2024 protest song “Hind’s Hall”, which condemns Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. The “Thrift Shop” rapper had been booked to support Sheeran at eight of the remaining 10 shows on his Loop Tour.
A vocal supporter of the pro-Palestinian cause in the past, Macklemore told the audience during Friday’s show: “A 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.
“I said, ‘Free Palestine!’ 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.”
He continued by saying that “every single human being that walks this earth” deserves to see their children grow up. “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.”
Shortly after his comments, the Israeli-American Council launched a petition asking Sheeran and his management to remove Macklemore from the tour – arguing that the rapper had used a “global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda”.
“This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” they continued.
On 8 September, Macklemore clarified that his call to “Free Palestine” was “in no way a criticism” of Jewish people, adding in a statement to Variety: “My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality. So I say Free Palestine, I say Free Lebanon, I say Free Cuba, I say Free Congo, Free Sudan, I say free all people in America living in fear of this terrorist organisation, ICE. None of us will be free until we’re all free.”
Jewish singer Pink then reposted a message criticising his comments to her Instagram page, and on 12 September, she followed it up with a post of her own. In the essay, she reiterated her 2023 stance that “Palestinians deserve a future that honours their humanity and their aspirations”, before saying that she disagreed with Macklemore sharing “violent images from a war on the screens” and telling “all of the Jews is the stadium that it wasn’t about them”.
“You don’t get to decide that for us,” she continued. “That’s what prompted my repost.”
Macklemore is dropped
On Monday 14 September, Macklemore announced on Instagram that he had been asked to leave the Loop Tour by Sheeran and his team, revealing that Sheeran called him to say that Robert Kraft – the billionaire CEO of the Kraft Group, which owns the Gillette Stadium, and a prominent donor to Israel – had said that the rapper would not be allowed to perform at the venue. “Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues,” he continued.
“Ed was in a f***ed up position. He knew it. His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before. He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with. I told him that if those words were more offensive that tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood. But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides.’”
In a statement of his own, Sheeran maintained that the decision to remove Macklemore had come from Messina Touring Group, the promoter of the US leg of Sheeran’s tour.
In June, a United Nations commission of inquiry found that Israel has has deliberately and intentionally targeted “hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children” during its military campaign in Gaza, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. A previous report last September found that Israel had committed genocide and claimed that these acts were incited by senior Israeli officials, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel labelled the accusations as “defamatory” and “distorted” at the time.
Macklemore also said in his statement that he hoped this wasn’t the end of his relationship with Sheeran before saying that if the words “Free Palestine” cost him the stage but put attention on Palestine, “then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on”.
Various celebrities supported Macklemore in the comments of the post, with Hacks actor Hannah Einbinder commenting a string of hearts while comedian Ilana Glazer wrote: “You’re with the people and the people are with you. Thank you for modeling courage and decency. For speaking up for Palestine, Palestinians and their human rights.”
Meanwhile, Kraft said in a statement that he had Macklemore removed from Sheeran’s act because his stadium “has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech”.
“Based on Macklemore's recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran's shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25 and 26 concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line,” Kraft added in a statement shared with ESPN.
On Tuesday 15 September, Sheeran said that Kraft had issued an ultimatum. “I spoke with the venues at length all week to try and build a bridge,” he said. “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.”
He added that he would “never let down the fans who had made plans” or the touring crew who rely on him. “I am not complicit,” he continued. “I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose to not speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care. Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own, personal way.”
Backlash as tour acts drop out
It didn’t take long for the rest of Sheeran’s support acts to withdraw from the tour – with Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Beoga and Lukas Graham pulling out in solidarity with Macklemore.
Shortly after Sheeran’s statement, Irish singer-songwriter Rowe announced he was leaving the tour, saying that he didn’t “take the decision lightly”. He said that Sheeran had been a friend to him, “but as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation”.
“I cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children. I would lose all respect for myself to carry on as normal.”
Finneas, who is Billie Eilish’s brother and was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year, also dropped out. He wrote on Instagram: “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed. I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”
Danish pop band Lukas Graham expressed gratitude toward Sheeran but removed themselves from the tour, explaining that “nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we’re allowed to acknowledge”.
Sheeran even lost part of his stage band, with Irish folk band Beoga pulling out “following the silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies”.
“We were there for Macklemore’s performance and speech. We fully supporting his message, so did most of the audience in Met Life Stadium which terrifies the lobbies,” they continued. “We are Irish people who understand colonialism. As founding members of the Irish Artists for Palestine movement, we are committed activists for justice and will continue to be.”
Sheeran has also faced backlash from other musicians; Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters took to social media to call Sheeran a “p****” over his actions, while Irish band Kneecap threw their support behind Macklemore, writing “all love and solidarity to @macklemore” on Instagram.
CMAT, Paloma Faith and Zara Larsson are among other stars who’ve rallied around Macklemore, while Hacks star Einbinder wrote on Instagram: “Ed Sheeran, I say this as a ginger. I hope you get a REALLY bad sun burn the kind on the back of your entire body where it hurts to lie down or walk or sit.”
One of the few voices expressing sympathy for Sheeran is Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who said that she felt he had been left in an “impossible position”.
“I hope it doesn’t harm his tour. He’s one of our most successful artists and also one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with… I have enormous sympathy for the position that he finds himself in,” she told LBC on Wednesday. “The world is quite a difficult place at the moment, and I think a lot of people do also quite like to have a space where they can go, where they can leave all of that aside.”
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