Macklemore has been dropped from the remainder of the US leg of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour, after the American rapper drew headlines for saying “free Palestine” on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
In a brief speech between songs on 4 September, the Grammy-winning artist told the audience he wanted the people of Gaza and “the occupied West Bank” to know “we have not forgotten about them”, prompting a petition from the Israeli American Council demanding his removal from the tour.
Messina Touring Group, the promoter of the US leg of Sheeran’s tour, told Rolling Stone: “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s US Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming US 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 and Sheeran did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
The Seattle-bred rapper was slated to open for Sheeran at eight of the remaining 10 shows of his US Loop tour, which will resume on 19 September in Philadelphia. The venues that allegedly objected to Macklemore’s return include stadiums in that city as well as outside Boston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Dallas and Tampa.
Macklemore, long an outspoken supporter of the rights for Palestinians and those in Gaza, delivered the remarks at his first appearance on the Loop tour on 4 September. “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,’” he said in a two-minute speech. “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.”
Alluding to possible controversy, he added that not “speaking my heart in order to keep my own comfort, and the audience’s comfort … is the day that I no longer deserve to be on stage”, and called US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a “terrorist organization”. He also showed images of the devastation from Israeli military attacks in Gaza during his protest anthem Hind’s Hall, which celebrated protesters’ occupation of a building they named in honor of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old killed by the Israeli military in 2024.
The comments spurred the group StopAntisemitism to accuse the musician of “ambushing fans” with “anti-Israel propaganda” in an Instagram post that was amplified by the singer Pink. In another post, Pink explained that she did not object to Macklemore saying “free Palestine” but added: “I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund. What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘that scared me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I’m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed?”
The Israeli American Council also called for Macklemore to be removed from the tour, claiming his statements raised the question of “where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda”.
At the second of his appearances at MetLife on 5 September, Macklemore reiterated his support for Palestine and addressed Jewish members of the audience: “Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you. My message is for peace, love; for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect and equality.”
The North American leg of Sheeran’s tour will conclude in November at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, which earlier this year hosted two shows by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who has a history of antisemitic statements. Tour openers Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe are set to take the stage as planned.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
