Macklemore Removed From Ed Sheeran Tour: What Happened After His “Free Palestine” Remarks
Macklemore says Ed Sheeran's team dropped him from the Loop Tour's remaining US dates after his onstage "Free Palestine" comments.
Macklemore has been pulled from the remaining US dates of Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour after making "Free Palestine" remarks onstage at MetLife Stadium, and the fallout has turned into a wider public argument over political speech at concerts. Here's what's confirmed, what's disputed, and why other artists are weighing in.
What actually happened onstage and after
Macklemore said he and Ed Sheeran had "some difficult conversations" following his onstage support for Palestinians, and that Sheeran's team ultimately decided to remove him from the tour's remaining shows, according to a statement he posted and reported by the Los Angeles Times. In that statement, Macklemore wrote that he didn't need 10 shows — just two more chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say "Free Palestine," per the LA Times. He separately confirmed on Instagram that Sheeran and his team made the call, The Guardian reported, which also noted the US leg resumes September 19 in Philadelphia without him.
Onstage in New Jersey, Macklemore had said that criticizing Israel and opposing genocide is not the same as criticizing Jewish people, according to CBC News.
Why the promoter says he was dropped
Tour promoter Messina Touring Group said venues had notified it that they would not allow a concert to proceed with Macklemore on the lineup, which risked canceling shows and affecting hundreds of thousands of fans, CBC News reported. That statement frames the removal as a venue-driven ultimatum rather than an artistic disagreement between Sheeran and Macklemore — though both explanations come from reported statements, not a joint or independently verified account of the internal decision.
Adding pressure, the Israeli American Council launched a petition calling on Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the remaining shows, a campaign covered by both CBC News and The Guardian.
The Kraft dispute: two very different explanations
The most contested thread involves billionaire Robert Kraft. Macklemore alleged that Kraft told him he would not be allowed to perform at a stadium Kraft owns or operates, and that Kraft rallied other stadium owners against him, per CBC News. Forbes also reported that Macklemore singled out Kraft as the driving force behind his removal.
Kraft's own response, as reported by CBC News, does not confirm that account. Instead, he said Gillette Stadium does not provide a platform for hate speech, and that Macklemore's participation in the September 25 and 26 Gillette shows would cross that line. Kraft cited material Macklemore shared during the New Jersey concerts and what he described as a broader history of rhetoric and imagery he called offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, according to CBC News.
That leaves two competing, unreconciled narratives from the sources reviewed: Macklemore describing a billionaire-orchestrated blacklisting over pro-Palestinian speech, and Kraft describing a venue-level line against content he characterizes as antisemitic. Neither Ed Sheeran nor his team has offered a public account, in the sources reviewed, of exactly why the decision was made or who initiated it — so the underlying cause remains a matter of dueling statements rather than a confirmed, single chain of events.
Why other artists are speaking out
The removal quickly expanded into a broader debate. Ms. Rachel, Kehlani, MUNA, Garbage and other artists publicly pushed back after Macklemore's removal, Billboard reported, framing it as a moment other performers felt compelled to address. Billboard's report indicates a wave of artist reactions occurred, though the specific content of each artist's remarks isn't detailed in the material reviewed here.
The controversy sits at the intersection of two arguments that aren't fully separable in the coverage: one about whether concert venues and tour partners should tolerate political statements onstage, and another about where the line falls between criticizing Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza and language that Kraft and groups like the Israeli American Council characterize as antisemitic. Macklemore's own onstage comment — that criticizing Israel or opposing genocide isn't criticism of Jewish people — is his direct rebuttal to that characterization, but it hasn't resolved the dispute between the two camps.
What's still unresolved
Who made the final call to remove Macklemore — Sheeran's team acting independently, venues acting on their own policies, or pressure specifically traceable to Kraft — is not settled across the sources. Macklemore's allegation about Kraft's direct involvement has not been confirmed by Kraft, Sheeran, or the tour promoter in the material reviewed; Kraft has only addressed his own stadium's stance and reasoning. Whether any additional venues beyond Gillette Stadium raised similar objections, and what specific stage content Kraft is referencing, also isn't detailed in the sources available.