Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran Tour After ‘Free Palestine’ Speech

Macklemore has been dropped from the remainder of Ed Sheeran‘s U.S. Loop Tour after making headlines for saying “free Palestine” on stage and delivering a political speech during the Sept. 4 concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The Grammy winner told the audience at the show that he wanted people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to know they had not been forgotten.

Messina Touring Group, promoter of the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, said in a statement to Rolling Stone: “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”

Macklemore was on the bill to perform at eight of the 10 shows Sheeran has left on his stadium tour, which will resume on Sept. 19 in Philadelphia. The rapper was scheduled to perform at venues such as Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and more.

Variety has reached out to representatives for Macklemore and Ed Sheeran for comment.

Macklemore’s politically-themed set at the Sept. 4 concert sparked a petition from the Israeli American Council, which demanded the rapper be removed from the remaining dates on the Loop tour. The petition read: “This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event. The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.”

During his appearances on Sheeran’s tour earlier this month, Macklemore told the crowd: “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.”

The rapper then sang his song “Hind’s Hall” as images from the destruction in Gaza were shown on the screens inside the stadium. The song is about the pro-Palestine demonstrators who occupied a building at Columbia University after the murder of Hind Raja.

Macklemore’s speech went viral across social media and generated a second wave of headlines after the singer Pink reposted a call for the rapper to be dropped from Sheeran’s tour.