Macklemore is dropped from Ed Sheeran tour

Macklemore has been removed from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour after using opening performances to voice support for Palestinians, triggering criticism from Jewish groups, a petition for his dismissal and a venue ban at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.

The rapper, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, confirmed Monday in a lengthy Instagram statement that Sheeran and his team had dropped him from the remaining support dates on the Loop tour. He said the decision followed a week of “difficult conversations” with Sheeran that ended “in a place of fundamental disagreement.”

“I’m not sure how to start this. So I’m going to speak from the heart and share the truth,” Macklemore wrote. “Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.”

Sheeran has not commented publicly, and it is not known who will replace Macklemore on the remaining dates.

The controversy began Sept. 4 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where Macklemore told the crowd: “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so that I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very, very dear to my heart: Free Palestine.” He then performed “Hind’s Hall,” a protest song condemning Israel’s military action in Gaza, while images of destruction in Gaza appeared on the stadium screens.

The next night, he again addressed the issue, speaking directly to “Jewish brothers and sisters” in the audience. “Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, is in no way a criticism of you,” he said, adding that he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten.

Israel rejects allegations of genocide and says its forces operate in Gaza and the occupied West Bank in self-defense and in accordance with international law. Its military campaign in Gaza began after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. More than 73,780 people have been killed during Israel’s campaign in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

StopAntisemitism criticized Macklemore after the MetLife performance, saying, “Jewish fans bought tickets to see Ed Sheeran sing… not to be ambushed by Macklemore’s anti-Israel propaganda.” The Israeli-American Council also launched a petition urging Sheeran to remove him, saying the concert was “not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event” and accusing Macklemore of using “biased messaging and disputed claims.”

Tour promoter Messina Touring Group told Rolling Stone that venues had said they would not allow Macklemore to perform, “which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.” The promoter said that after discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore would not appear on the remaining support dates.

Robert Kraft, the businessman who owns Gillette Stadium through the Kraft Group, said Macklemore had been barred from scheduled appearances there on Sept. 25 and 26 because the venue would not “provide a platform for hate speech.” Kraft cited Macklemore’s recent performances and what he called “a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.”

“This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf,” Kraft said. “But that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas … whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

Macklemore alleged that Sheeran told him Kraft was barring him from Gillette Stadium and that Kraft had urged other stadium owners to issue an ultimatum against the tour if Macklemore remained. Kraft did not directly address that allegation, and Al Jazeera said it had not independently verified Macklemore’s account.

Macklemore denied that his comments were antisemitic. “When criticizing Israel, opposing Zionism or saying ‘Free Palestine’ gets conflated with hatred of Jewish people, it doesn’t protect Jewish people. It protects Israel from accountability,” he wrote. He said he understood the difficult position Sheeran was in but criticized what he described as the singer’s refusal to take a side.

“There is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed,” Macklemore wrote. He added that if his brief time on the tour helped turn attention back to Palestinians, “then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.”