Macklemore booted from Ed Sheeran tour over ‘Free Palestine’ comments after US venues vow to cancel concerts—rapper claims Patriots owner is to blame

Messina Touring Group, the promoter of Sheeran’s US leg of the Loop Tour, told Rolling Stone, “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. 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.”

The tour has 10 stops remaining in the US, with Macklemore being scheduled previously to appear at eight of them, including Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Foxborough, Massachusetts. Venues that had reportedly opposed Macklemore’s appearance included Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, Foxborough’s Gillette Stadium, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, Charlotte, NC’s Bank of America Stadium, and Arlington, TX’s AT&T Stadium.

Responding to his being dropped, Macklemore wrote on Instagram, “I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim … the victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women, and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that.”

He said that Sheeran had told him that Robert Kraft, CEO of the Kraft Group, which owns Gillette Stadium, as well as New England Patriots owner, “said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they have him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”

Macklemore said Sheeran had told him “that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with. 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.”

Macklemore’s performance on September 4 and 5 at New York City’s MetLife Stadium drew criticism, with the rapper yelling “Free Palestine” while wearing a keffiyeh. Macklemore told the crowd, “I wanted to stand up here on stages across America and say two words that are near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine.”

He also told crowds, “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.” Macklemore performed his controversial song “Hind’s Hall” as footage from Gaza, anti-Israel campus demonstrations, and other political imagery was displayed across the stadium screens. Macklemore had previously appeared at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival fundraiser and told the crowd, “F*ck America.”

The Israeli-American Council (IAC) launched a petition urging Sheeran, his management, and others associated with the Loop Tour to drop Macklemore. The group claimed Macklemore’s actions raised questions over “where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.”