Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour After ‘Free Palestine’ Remarks Spark Major Venue Backlash

NEW YORK — Rapper Macklemore has been removed from the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour after several venues told the tour’s promoter they would not host a show featuring the performer, following onstage remarks he made in support of Palestinians during a September 4 concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Messina Touring Group, promoter of the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s tour, confirmed the decision in a statement shared with 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,” the statement read. “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”

The controversy traces back to Macklemore’s set opening for Sheeran on September 4, when he told the MetLife Stadium crowd why he had joined the tour. “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!’” Macklemore told the crowd. “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.” He also directly addressed Jewish concertgoers during the speech, saying, “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 went on to perform “Hind’s Hall,” a song about the pro-Palestinian demonstrators who occupied a building at Columbia University following the killing of a young girl named Hind Rajab, as images depicting destruction in Gaza played on the stadium’s screens.

The remarks quickly drew backlash. The Israeli American Council launched a petition calling for Macklemore’s removal from the tour, framing the issue as one of appropriate concert programming rather than free expression. “This was an Ed Sheeran concert — not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” the petition read. “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.” Pop star Pink further amplified the backlash by reposting a call for Macklemore to be dropped from the tour, which Variety reported generated a second wave of headlines around the controversy.

Macklemore addressed his removal directly in a lengthy Instagram post. “I’m going to speak from the heart and share the truth,” he wrote, confirming that “Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.” Despite the split, Macklemore described Sheeran as a “friend” and said the British singer-songwriter had been placed in a difficult position by the controversy. “His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before,” Macklemore wrote. “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.”

In the same post, Macklemore alleged that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had pressured other stadium operators over his continued participation in the tour, claiming Kraft delivered an ultimatum to venues: “If Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.” Kraft did not directly address that specific allegation in his own public response, though he confirmed separately that Macklemore would not be permitted to perform at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Sheeran had been scheduled to play September 25 and 26.

In a statement, Kraft said Macklemore’s recent performances, combined with what he described as a “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery,” led Gillette Stadium’s ownership group to conclude that his scheduled appearances there “would cross that line.” Kraft was careful to frame the decision as distinct from the underlying issue of Palestinian advocacy itself. “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.”

The venue-by-venue nature of the decision drew scrutiny in at least one case involving public ownership. Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, one of the tour’s remaining stops, is owned by Hillsborough County, Florida, and operated by the publicly governed Tampa Sports Authority, raising questions about whether a government-linked entity could lawfully bar a performer over political speech without running afoul of First Amendment protections. A representative for the Tampa Sports Authority told Rolling Stone only that “we can confirm Macklemore will not be performing at the upcoming show. Apart from this lineup change, the concert will go forward as planned,” without elaborating on the legal basis for the change.

Macklemore has been a vocal supporter of Palestinian advocacy efforts beyond this tour, previously addressing a pro-Palestinian rally in Washington, D.C., where he told a crowd of demonstrators that he had not expected to speak, adding that “there are thousands of people here more qualified to speak on the issue of a free Palestine than myself.”

Neither Ed Sheeran nor representatives for Macklemore have indicated whether the rapper will continue to perform his own separate, non-Sheeran-affiliated tour dates, and Sheeran has not issued a detailed public statement of his own addressing the decision to remove his opening act from the remainder of the U.S. leg of the Loop Tour.