The fallout from Macklemore’s exit from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour has widened beyond the concert stage, with entertainers and a U.S. senator publicly criticizing Sheeran and others after the rapper was removed following pro-Palestine comments during a recent performance.
The controversy stems from Macklemore’s Sept. 4 set at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, where he sang out “Free Palestine.” The moment drew headlines, and on Sept. 14 he was removed from Sheeran’s Loop Tour. In the days since, the decision has prompted public rebukes from “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder, YouTuber and children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel, “Wicked” star Marissa Bode and Sen. Bernie Sanders, while other opening acts have also departed the tour.
Hollywood voices call out Sheeran
Einbinder addressed Sheeran directly in an Instagram story on Tuesday, writing, “Ed Sheeran i say this as a ginger. i hope you get a REALLY bad sun burn. the kind on the back of your entire body where it hurts to lie down or walk or sit.”
Ms. Rachel posted her own criticism on Instagram on Monday, saying Sheeran “had an opportunity [to] show that we won’t be bullied into punishing people for supporting Palestine.” She continued, “Instead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows. A genocide is happening in Gaza. We all need to speak out against it.”
In a follow-up, Ms. Rachel wrote, “If more than 20,000 white children were killed in another part of the world, everyone would be shouting about it at their concerts. Treating some children’s lives as less worthy of outrage is racist. Silence during a genocide is not neutral.”
Bode also weighed in via TikTok, invoking Sheeran’s own lyrics as she said, “Ed Sheeran, my legs may not work like they used to before, but at least I have a fucking spine. Free Palestine, bitch!” Bode, who stars in “Wicked,” is in a wheelchair.
Macklemore says stadium pressure led to removal
After his Sept. 14 removal, Macklemore posted a lengthy Instagram statement explaining his version of what happened. He wrote that “last Monday,” amid media attention surrounding “Pink” and what he said at MetLife, Sheeran told him that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had called. Macklemore said the tour was scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later in the month, and that the venue is owned by the Kraft Group.
According to Macklemore’s statement, Sheeran told him Kraft said the rapper would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Macklemore further claimed Sheeran told him Kraft had “rallied some of the other stadium owners” and that they collectively gave Sheeran an ultimatum: “if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”
Macklemore also described Sheeran as being in a difficult position. “Ed was in a fucked up position. He knew it,” he wrote. “His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before.” Macklemore said Sheeran told him 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,” Macklemore added. “But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides.’”
Sheeran says the decision was not his
Sheeran released his own statement on Sept. 15. In it, he said he had spoken with venue owners “at length all week to try and build a bridge” after Macklemore’s comments. He also said the decision to drop Macklemore was “the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.”
“I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living,” Sheeran added.
Even so, the tour continued to see departures after Macklemore’s removal. Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham and Irish band Beoga all left the Loop Tour following the decision.
Sanders posted a statement on X criticizing Kraft, whom Macklemore had partially blamed for his exit. “In the United States of America, billionaire stadium owners should not be able to silence artists because they speak out on political issues,” Sanders wrote. “Today it is the genocide in Gaza. What’s next? If they can silence one artist, they can silence anyone.”
Donations follow the public dispute
On Wednesday, Macklemore announced that he will donate the $1 million in net earnings he received from Sheeran’s Loop Tour to organizations supporting Palestinian people. In an Instagram post, he wrote, “With everything that has happened over the last 48 hours, I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under military occupation, and still fighting for their freedom.”
He said the full $1 million would go to six organizations “working directly to support the Palestinian people” and invited Kraft to match the donation. “Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting,” Macklemore wrote. “A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth.”
Shortly after Macklemore’s announcement, Kraft issued a statement saying he and Sheeran are donating $2 million each to the Palestinian cause. The statement, released on the Gillette Stadium X account, said, “I have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people. I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting.”
Kraft’s statement said that earlier that day, before Macklemore challenged him to match the donation, Sheeran called and asked him to commit $2 million to match Sheeran’s own donation “to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.” The statement added that Sheeran now plans to reach out to other venue owners, with the goal “to continue to work together to build bridges.”