Activists demand Ed Sheeran drop Macklemore from tour after he called ICE a ‘terrorist organization’

The Israeli-American Council (IAC) launched a petition urging Sheeran, his management, and others associated with the Loop Tour to drop Macklemore from its remaining dates. The group accused the rapper of turning Sheeran’s concerts into a platform for a one-sided political agenda.

Macklemore opened for Sheeran at MetLife Stadium on Friday and Saturday, appearing onstage wearing a keffiyeh and delivering a speech about Gaza and Palestinian territories. During Friday’s performance, 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.”

Macklemore also indicated that delivering his political message before large audiences was part of his motivation for joining Sheeran’s 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,” Macklemore said.

The rapper told the audience that people in Gaza and the West Bank had “not been forgotten” and discussed the world he wants for his 11-year-old daughter, Sloan, before broadening his remarks to other countries and US immigration enforcement. “I say, free Palestine! I say, free America, free Cuba to the Congo to Sudan to Iran, and all the people in America who have to live in fear because of this terrorist organization ICE,” Macklemore said.

He then 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.

StopAntisemitism condemned the performance, writing, “Jewish patrons should not be subjected to this propaganda.” The organization also blasted the decision to inject Macklemore’s activism into a concert headlined by Sheeran. “Imagine paying over $500 to see Ed Sheeran only to be ambushed by Macklemore’s relentless anti-Israel obsession,” StopAntisemitism wrote. “Yes, the same Macklemore who appeared onstage dressed as an Orthodox Jew, complete with an enormous prosthetic nose. Fans deserve apologies and refunds. Unacceptable.”

The reference was to a controversial 2014 Seattle performance in which Macklemore wore a costume featuring a large prosthetic nose, dark wig and beard that drew accusations of antisemitism. Macklemore denied at the time that he intended to portray a Jewish stereotype.

The IAC argued that the controversy was not about whether Macklemore was entitled to hold political views, but whether an opening act should use another artist’s concert tour to promote them. “This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” the organization said. “The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where to draw the line when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda,” the IAC added.

“This becomes even more troubling when the message relies on selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact, without context or complexity.” The group specifically singled out Macklemore’s decision to perform “Hind’s Hall,” saying the choice was “not incidental.”

“The song was written in explicit support of the campus protest movement and takes its name from the nickname protesters gave to the historic Hamilton Hall at Columbia University after they broke in and occupied it,” IAC said.

“Some of those protests involved trespassing, building occupations, vandalism, and violations of the law – conduct that stands in direct conflict with core American values.”

The song was released in 2024 amid the wave of anti-Israel riots on college campuses and takes its name from Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall, which activists occupied and renamed “Hind’s Hall.”

The IAC petition goes beyond demanding Macklemore’s removal. It also calls on Sheeran’s team to disclose whether Macklemore’s political speech, visuals and performance of “Hind’s Hall” were approved before he took the stage and asks tour organizers to establish boundaries for political messaging during future performances. The petition is directed at Sheeran, MetLife Stadium leadership, and other venues, managers and producers connected to the Loop Tour. The IAC has also called on supporters to contact concert promoter Live Nation.

Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, has been a vocal anti-Israel activist since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. In September 2024, Macklemore appeared at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival fundraiser for terrorist organizations at Seattle’s Seward Park and told the crowd, “Yeah, f*ck America.”

The comment immediately created problems for his relationships with Seattle professional sports organizations. Macklemore is an investor in both the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and MLS’s Seattle Sounders FC. The teams issued a joint statement saying his comments did not represent their organizations and that they were “evaluating our collective options on this matter.”

The fallout extended beyond the two teams. The Seattle Mariners, which had regularly played Macklemore’s hit “Can’t Hold Us” following the seventh-inning stretch at home games, skipped the song during its first home game after the controversy. Macklemore was also dropped from the Neon City Festival in Las Vegas following the controversy, though organizers cited only “unforeseen circumstances” when announcing he would no longer perform.

Despite the backlash following his first MetLife Stadium appearance, Macklemore returned as an opener for Sheeran the following night and again called for a “Free Palestine” and performed “Hind’s Hall.” As of Sunday, Sheeran had not publicly addressed the controversy.

Macklemore is currently scheduled to appear at additional US stops on Sheeran’s Loop Tour, including Philadelphia, Foxborough, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Arlington and Tampa.

The IAC is demanding that Sheeran and tour organizers act before those performances. “Freedom of expression does not mean freedom from responsibility. Your show. Your stage. Your responsibility,” the IAC concluded.