Macklemore has been dropped from the remainder of Ed Sheeran’s US tour dates. It comes after Macklemore made comments in support of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank while opening for the singer in New Jersey earlier this month. The promoter for the American side of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, Messina Touring Group, said in a statement that they were told by venues of future dates on the tour that “they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup”.
Macklemore, who was born Benjamin Haggerty, was due to open for Sheeran at eight of the remaining 10 shows on his tour in America, which continues on Friday in Philadelphia. The “Thrift Shop” rapper has been a vocal supporter of the pro-Palestinian cause in the past, having signed the Artists4Ceasefire letter back in 2023 when calling for an end to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip. During Sheeran’s MetLife Stadium gigs on 4 and 5 September, Macklemore opened the show by performing his 2024 protest song “Hind’s Hall”, which condemns Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
He told the audience during the Friday show: “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. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. He continued by saying that “every single human being that walks this earth” deserves to see their children grow up.
The group stated that he had used a “global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda” and added: “This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event.” Meanwhile, Jewish singer Pink reposted a message criticising his comments to her Instagram page last week, before following it up with an essay. She reiterated her 2023 stance that “Palestinians deserve a future that honours their humanity and their aspirations”, before saying that she disagreed with Macklemore sharing “violent images from a war on the screens” and telling “all of the Jews is the stadium that it wasn’t about them”.
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