Macklemore claims he was forced off Ed Sheeran’s tour after Sheeran was pressured by billionaire and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft following the Seattle rapper’s onstage calls for a “free Palestine.” In a statement shared on Instagram, Macklemore claimed that Kraft called Sheeran ahead of Sheeran’s upcoming show at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is owned by the Kraft Group. Though the company did not specifically name Kraft, or any other venue or owner, it said, “We have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. 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.” Kraft, in his own statement, confirmed he made the decision to bar Macklemore from performing at Gillette, saying it was based on his “recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.” Kraft, however, did not address the claim that Kraft also “rallied” other stadium owners to also pressure Sheeran into dropping Macklemore. Reps for Sheeran did not immediately return a request for comment.
Kraft, who is Jewish, is a strong supporter of Israel and Jewish causes, having donated millions of dollars to them over the years while also organizing numerous trips to Israel with current and former NFL players. In 2019, he founded the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, and in 2025 launched the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate meant to “inspire Americans to stand up to Jewish hate and all hate.” (The Blue Square Alliance website and Instagram features a photo of Sheeran with a blue square pinned to his guitar strap.) The uproar over Macklemore and his inclusion on Sheeran’s tour came after the Seattle rapper joined the trek in early September for two shows at MetLife Stadium outside of New York City. At the first gig, Macklemore yelled “Free Palestine”; expressed solidarity with people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank; showed images from the devastation in Gaza; and performed his protest song, “Hind’s Hall,” about pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University.
In response, pro-Israel groups fiercely criticized Macklemore, with the Israeli American Council launching a petition demanding Sheeran remove Macklemore from the rest of the tour. In his statement, Macklemore called Sheeran a “friend” and described the “difficult conversations” they’ve had over the past week as “rooted in love and respect for one another that still end in a place of fundamental disagreement.” He said his statement was not written “out of spite or because I want to tear down his character. But as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can’t change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened.” Following Kraft’s alleged pressure campaign, Macklemore acknowledged that Sheeran “was in a fucked-up position,” adding: “His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before.
He told me 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. But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides.’” Related Content Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran Tour After Onstage ‘Free Palestine’ Statements Pink Responds to Fallout After Sharing Post Criticizing Macklemore’s Speech on Palestine More Pop Stars Should Call Ed Sheeran to Write Their Songs Ed Sheeran to Sign New Deal With Interscope Records While Macklemore argued there were financial and professional costs for speaking out in support of Palestinians, he added, “There is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.
When one side has the bombs and bottomless financial and military support from America, refusing to take a side doesn’t leave you in the middle.” The rapper also pushed back against the argument that expressing support for Palestinians and criticizing Israel and its actions in Gaza and the West Bank is antisemitic. When criticizing Israel, opposing Zionism or saying ‘Free Palestine’ gets conflated with hatred of Jewish people, it doesn’t protect Jewish people. It protects Israel from accountability.” Elsewhere, Macklemore insisted neither he nor Sheeran was a victim in this situation and stressed his desire to keep the focus on the Palestinian people who “have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence.” He later said that the controversy was ultimately “so small when held against what we are actually witnessing in Gaza and the West Bank.
An entire people being displaced, starved and killed while the world debates which words we are allowed to use to describe it, how those words make us feel, and whether our discomfort matters more than the people living through a genocide.” (Humanitarian groups and a United Nations commission have said Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide. Israel and its allies, including the United States, have denied this.) Trending Stories Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran Tour
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