Macklemore cut from Ed Sheeran U.S. tour after onstage 'Free Palestine' remarks
Macklemore has been dropped from the remainder of Ed Sheeran's tour, according to the Rolling Stone, after several venues in the United States said they would not allow the concerts to be held if the American rapper, who is an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, remains on the lineup.
U.S. rapper blames NFL owner, says Sheeran told him 'Free Palestine' chant was 'hurtful' to many
Sara Jabakhanji · CBC News
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Macklemore has been dropped from the U.S. leg of English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran's tour after several venues in the United States threatened to cancel the scheduled concerts if the American rapper — and outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights — was not removed.
Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, better known as Macklemore, joined Sheeran for the first two U.S. shows on the Loop Tour on Sept. 4 and 5 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The Seattle-born Grammy winner was slated to open for the remaining eight of Sheeran's 10 U.S. shows before he was dropped from the tour.
Macklemore's onstage remarks at MetLife — including chanting "Free Palestine" and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank — drew criticism from pro-Israel groups.
The rapper also wore a keffiyeh, a checkered black-and-white scarf long worn by Palestinians, and performed his song Hind's Hall, one of two songs he released in 2024 in support of student protesters on university campuses and to decry Israel's military actions in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel of Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli American Council (IAC) also launched a petition calling for Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the rest of the tour. In a statement issued following the announcement he would be cut, the IAC said it welcomes the decision.
"Anyone who chooses to turn an 80,000-person concert into a vehicle for advancing a one-sided political agenda must stand behind that choice," it said. "A concert stage is not a platform for anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda."
Macklemore blames Robert Kraft
Messina Touring Group, the promoter of the U.S. leg of the tour, told Rolling Stone magazine that the decision to remove Macklemore came after "discussions with stakeholders."
"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," the group said on Monday.
Macklemore responded Monday in a lengthy statement posted on Instagram, blaming his removal from the tour on New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who owns owns Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. He claimed Kraft said Macklemore would not be allowed on stage and rallied other stadium owners to threaten to cancel scheduled concerts if he was not taken off the bill. The threats placed Sheeran, his friend, in a difficult position, Macklemore said.
"Ed [Sheeran] was in a f--ked 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," Macklemore said.
"I told him that if those words were more offensive than 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.'"
CBC News reached out to representatives for Sheeran for comment but did not immediately hear back.
Kraft responds to Macklemore
In response to Macklemore, Kraft said Gillette Stadium does "not provide a platform for hate speech," accusing the rapper of divisiveness and hate by sharing "selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas," in a statement shared with CBC News.
"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 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line," Kraft said in an email.
"I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same – peace for all people, an end to suffering and an end to all hate.”
In his onstage speech at the first show, Macklemore said: "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 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."
Macklemore said that his criticism was directed at Israel's government and was not an attack on Jewish people.
"To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters: criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you," he said in his speech onstage at the second show on Sept. 5. "My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect and equality."
Following his comments, singer-songwriter Pink reshared a social media post from StopAntisemitism calling for him to be removed from the tour. She later said that the post "said things in words I didn't write, and I wouldn't have chosen all of them," but defended her criticism of the rapper.
"He stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn't about them. You don't get to decide that for us," Pink said on Friday in a lengthy statement on Instagram.
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"That's what prompted my repost. Not 'Free Palestine,' and not anyone's right to say it. I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I'm not asking now," she wrote.
Pink also recalled a 2014 performance by Macklemore in which he wore a costume onstage that was widely criticized as offensive and antisemitic. The rapper later apologized, saying, "I respect all cultures and all people," and that the costume was not meant to be a caricature of a Jewish man.
Humanitarian groups have said Israel's actions constitute genocide
Reaction to Macklemore's statement on Monday included support for the rapper.
"The way you stand in solidarity here is an absolute model. Thank you for walking through this fire while centering Palestinians," commented Noura Erakat, a Palestinian-American activist, professor and human rights attorney.
"Thank you for recognizing your relative power and privilege. Thank you for having the humility to be changed by Palestinians, enough to learn not just a phrase but a pillar of our continuity — thank you for not abandoning this duty."
U.S. singer-songwriter Lauren Jauregui, who has also been an advocate for Palestinians, said: "So much love and respect for you."
Popular children's content creator Rachel Accurso, known as Ms. Rachel, has similarly faced intense public reaction and antisemitism accusations for using her platform to highlight the humanitarian needs, safety and rights of children in Gaza.
"Ed Sheeran had an opportunity [to] show that we won't be bullied into punishing people for supporting Palestine," she wrote on Instagram. "Instead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows. A genocide is happening in Gaza. We all need to speak out against it."
Humanitarian organizations, including Amnesty International and a United Nations commission have said Israel's actions in Gaza constitute a genocide.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sara Jabakhanji is a Toronto-based senior writer assigned to cover news developments in the Middle East. She has worked in CBC bureaus in Ottawa, London and Toronto. You can reach her at sara.jabakhanji@cbc.ca.
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