Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran tour following Palestine advocacy

What the report says

Macklemore has been removed from the remaining North American dates of Ed Sheeran’s tour after a dispute over his public support for Palestinians, according to Al Jazeera’s reporting and statements cited in the article. The controversy followed Macklemore’s performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier in September, where he spoke in favor of Palestinians and performed his protest song “Hind’s Hall.”

Billionaire Robert Kraft, whose company owns and operates Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, said the venue would not allow Macklemore to perform there on September 25 and 26. Kraft said the decision was based on concerns about the rapper’s recent performances and what he described as a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery. He also argued that advocacy for Palestinians should not come at the expense of the Jewish community.

Macklemore said in an Instagram post that Sheeran and his team had removed him from the tour after venues refused to host shows with him on the lineup. He also claimed Kraft had pressured other stadium owners, though Kraft did not directly address that allegation. The tour’s promoter, Messina Touring Group, later confirmed that Macklemore would not appear on the remaining support dates because some venues would not permit the concerts to go ahead with him included.

The dispute has drawn wider attention because it sits at the intersection of live entertainment, public activism and the war in Gaza. Al Jazeera noted that it had not independently verified all of Macklemore’s account, and neither Sheeran nor his press office commented in the article.