Macklemore turned his opening slot on Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour into a pro-Palestinian statement two nights running at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and now a petition is asking Sheeran to cut him from the rest of the tour.
At Friday’s show, Macklemore told the roughly 80,000 people in the stadium he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know “they have not been forgotten,” then performed his 2024 protest song “Hind’s Hall” while wearing a keffiyeh as footage from Gaza played on the video screens. He repeated the same routine at Saturday’s show.
The petition and the pushback
The Israeli-American Council launched a petition afterward calling on Sheeran to drop Macklemore from the remaining tour dates, arguing the concert “was an Ed Sheeran concert, not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” and asking where the line should be drawn when an opener uses someone else’s stage to push a one-sided message. The petition had gathered thousands of signatures within a day.
Critics online piled on in the same direction, with plenty of fans saying they paid for a pop show, not a rally, and that Sheeran owes his audience some explanation for letting it happen twice.
Macklemore’s response
Macklemore addressed the criticism directly from the stage, telling the Jewish community that his remarks were “in no way” a criticism of them personally, and that his message was about peace and treating all human beings with dignity and equality. He’s leaned into “Hind’s Hall” as a centerpiece of his live shows since releasing it in 2024, named for a Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, and has kept performing it at other stops despite the controversy it tends to generate.
Sheeran hasn’t publicly commented on the petition or said whether Macklemore will keep opening for the remaining Loop Tour dates. Concert openers picking political fights with their own audience isn’t new, but doing it twice at the same arena, in front of the same headliner, tends to force the question of whether the headliner is fine with it or just hasn’t said so yet.
Sources: Variety · Jewish Telegraphic Agency · TMZ
Update, Sept. 15: Macklemore is officially off the tour
The petition got its result. Macklemore has been dropped from the remaining Loop Tour dates, and in an Instagram post Monday he laid out who he says made that happen: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. According to Macklemore, Sheeran told him “Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.” Messina Touring Group, which promotes the tour, separately confirmed that multiple venues “will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup,” saying the standoff would affect hundreds of thousands of ticket holders.
Kraft’s response
Kraft didn’t deny playing a role, but disputed the framing that this was about silencing pro-Palestinian speech. In a statement, he pointed to “a broader history of rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community,” and said the objection was to specific antisemitic content, not to Macklemore advocating for Palestinians. He added, “I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts.”
Where things stand now
Macklemore is doubling down rather than backing off, defending “Hind’s Hall” and his onstage comments as being about human dignity, not antisemitism. Neither Ed Sheeran nor Pink, who is also on the tour, has issued a public statement addressing Macklemore’s removal or Kraft’s account of how it happened.
Update sources: NBC News · Washington Post · Fox News · Variety
Update, Sept. 15: Every other opener on the tour just quit in solidarity
Macklemore’s removal didn’t end the controversy. It escalated it. Grammy-winning producer and artist Finneas, Irish singer Aaron Rowe, and Danish pop act Lukas Graham have all announced they’re walking away from the remaining Loop Tour dates in support of Macklemore, and Beoga, the backing band that performs with Sheeran during the shows, is leaving too. That’s the entire supporting lineup gone within days of Macklemore’s exit.
Finneas said simply: “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed. I stand with Palestine and its people.” Lukas Graham framed it as a free-speech issue rather than taking a side on the underlying conflict: “We should be able to speak about war, about civilians being killed, about children who deserve to grow up,” adding, “Money doesn’t give you the right to own the conversation. Nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak,” a clear reference to Robert Kraft’s alleged role in pressuring venues. Aaron Rowe was more pointed: “I cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide.” Beoga, who are Irish, tied their departure to their own activism: “We are Irish people who understand colonialism. As founding members of the Irish Artists For Palestine movement, we are committed activists for justice.”
Sheeran finally speaks, but doesn’t take a side
Facing a tour with no opening acts and no backing band, Ed Sheeran issued his first public comment since the controversy began. He stopped short of weighing in on the conflict itself or defending Macklemore’s removal, instead pushing back on the idea that his silence meant indifference: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.” He did not say whether he asked Kraft or the venues to reconsider, and hasn’t announced replacement openers for the tour’s remaining dates.
Update sources: Consequence · CNN · Variety · Just Jared
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