Macklemore Announces Free Palestine Tour After Ed Sheeran Fallout: “Being Apolitical During a Genocide Doesn’t Work Anymore”

Just 10 days after Macklemore‘s removal from Ed Sheeran’s tour over his pro-Palestine statements during his performances, the rapper announced a “Free Palestine” Tour of his own on Thursday, with all the proceeds pledged to pro-Palestinian organizations.

Macklemore will play three dates in Dublin, Paris and London on October 26, 29 and 30, with unannounced special guests set to join him as well. He said he’ll be announcing U.S. dates at a later date.

“If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years,” Macklemore wrote on Instagram. “There has been a collective awakening around Palestinian liberation, the power of billionaires that try to censor that call, and what we expect from artists right now. It’s 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn’t work anymore. People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment. To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it.”

Macklemore‘s announcement follows him being taken off Sheeran’s tour after New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and several other NFL team owners had issued Sheeran an ultimatum to remove him or they wouldn’t host his concerts. Sheeran himself has faced significant backlash over the move, with critics blasting Sheeran for backing down, not supporting Macklemore and seeking to avoid taking sides on the matter.

Sheeran addressed the controversy during his concert in Philadelphia last week, telling the crowd that “I am trying in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity” further adding that “what happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable, and disproportionate.”

In his post on Thursday, Macklemore wrote that “what happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage.”

“When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention,” he said.

The rapper said he had “spent the last week reaching out to artists who have shown up and used their stages to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences. Artists who understand that our platforms mean very little if we’re only willing to use them when it’s safe.”

Macklemore first drew controversy after his first opening set for Sheeran at MetLife Stadium earlier in September, when he shared his pro-Palestinian message and imagery on stage. Several pro-Israel groups had called for Macklemore’s ouster, and Pink further fanned the flames when she reshared a post calling for him to be removed.

She later shared a more extensive comment, recalling a costume Macklemore had worn on stage in 2014 that was widely criticized as antisemitic. Macklemore apologized for the costume at the time. Pink said she was “standing up for my own people, and I thought I knew going in how lonely that would be. And it’s lonelier than that. But I’m doing it anyway.”

Macklemore said the shows have been put together quickly and that he and his team are still sorting schedules and other details, but that “this is a moment of momentum, and there is work to be done.”