Ed Sheeran Cut Macklemore Over Palestine, Now His Tour Is Burning

Ed Sheeran Tour Crisis Deepens After Macklemore Exit

Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour resumed in Philadelphia on September 19 without the rapper whose removal triggered a week of fallout, after Macklemore was dropped from the remaining U.S. dates over pro-Palestinian remarks made onstage in New Jersey. Sheeran apologized to fans, acknowledged making mistakes and said the situation in Gaza was “catastrophic and unjustifiable,” turning a dispute over one opening act into a wider fight about political expression, venue power and artistic control.

The dispute began at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on September 4 and 5. Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, used his opening sets to support Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. He called for a “Free Palestine” and performed “Hind’s Hall,” his 2024 protest song associated with pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

The comments drew opposition from the Anti-Defamation League, while the Israeli-American Council launched a petition seeking Macklemore’s removal. Macklemore rejected accusations that his advocacy was antisemitic and argued that criticism of Israel should not be treated as hostility toward Jewish people.

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Why Macklemore was removed

On September 14, Messina Touring Group, promoter of the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s tour, announced that Macklemore would not perform on the remaining support dates. The promoter said venues on upcoming dates had notified it that they would not allow a concert with Macklemore on the lineup, warning that this could result in cancellation of the tour and affect hundreds of thousands of fans.

Macklemore said Sheeran and his team had made the decision to remove him after difficult conversations. He specifically accused Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium and the New England Patriots, of rallying other stadium owners and threatening to prevent Sheeran from performing at their venues unless Macklemore was removed.

Sheeran gave a different account. In an Instagram statement on September 15, he said, “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.” He said Macklemore’s contract was with the promoter and that he had spent the week speaking with venues and owners, including Kraft, trying to find a resolution.

But the public record does not establish that Sheeran personally ordered Macklemore’s dismissal instead it establishes pressure from venues and a promoter-led removal. The promoter’s statement supports the existence of venue objections; Sheeran’s account describes his role as an unsuccessful intermediary.

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The fallout spread beyond one rapper

The decision did not end the controversy. Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga, the remaining supporting acts associated with the tour, withdrew in solidarity with Macklemore. The departures left Sheeran facing upcoming shows without the lineup originally advertised.

Macklemore then pledged to donate $1 million of his net earnings from the tour to six organizations supporting Palestinian aid. He challenged Kraft to match the donation. Kraft subsequently said Sheeran had already asked him to commit $2 million to humanitarian relief in the region and said he and Sheeran had each committed that amount. The precise recipient organizations were not immediately specified.

Kraft has defended the decision involving Macklemore by saying his venues should not provide a platform for what he regards as hate speech. He has also said he supports peace and protection of Jewish and Palestinian communities. Macklemore has disputed the characterization of his remarks and maintained that his advocacy was about Palestinian rights.

The controversy has also created a commercial and reputational problem for Sheeran. Reports said some fans sought refunds after the lineup changes, while online criticism intensified. A major Irish radio station temporarily removed his music from its schedule, and reports tracking his social-media audience said he lost hundreds of thousands of followers. Those figures come from media and platform observations, not an independent audit.

Sheeran changes his message

A further development came on September 19, when Sheeran addressed the dispute directly from the stage in Philadelphia. He told the audience he had faced difficult decisions during the previous week and said, “I am making mistakes, and I am so, so sorry.”

He also criticized the broader idea of venues controlling performers’ content, saying he was “deeply worried” about venues pre-approving what artists can say onstage. His remarks went beyond the tour dispute. Sheeran said his concerts should be places where people with different views can attend safely and that he had not wanted his professional platform to become a political forum.

On Gaza, however, Sheeran was more explicit than he had been before. He condemned the October 7 attacks in Israel and described the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic,” “unjustifiable” and “disproportionate,” while expressing concern for civilians and children. He said the suffering on both sides was a human tragedy.

That position places Sheeran between competing demands that have driven the controversy from the start. Macklemore used a stadium stage to make a political statement and then lost his remaining tour dates. Sheeran, who has generally kept politics outside his performances, became the central figure in the dispute after the removal and the subsequent withdrawal of his other performers.

The next concrete question is how the remaining Loop Tour dates will operate after the collapse of its original support lineup. The Philadelphia concert went ahead, but the episode changed the terms of his tour: a venue decision over one artist became a public dispute involving promoters, stadium owners, fellow musicians, humanitarian donations and Sheeran’s own previously stated boundary between music and politics.

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