MACKLEMORE has been removed from the rest of Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour after he made several onstage statements calling for Palestine to be free.
The rapper opened for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last week when he told the audience he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had “not been forgotten” amid Israel’s genocide.
Macklemore was due to appear at eight of the 10 shows left on the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s tour, but it has emerged that he was dropped after several venues allegedly told the tour's promoter that they would not allow him to perform.
In a statement, Messina Touring Group, promoter of the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, told Rolling Stone: “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, 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.
“After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”
Macklemore has faced backlash since sharing his support for Palestine and shared a video of himself on stage during Sheeran’s show, which he captioned: “Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.”
Sheeran himself has not addressed the calls for his tour opener to be dropped.
The venues that allegedly objected to Macklemore included: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Macklemore chanted “Free Palestine” onstage and expressed solidarity with people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank during the tour, which drew condemnation from fellow artist Pink.
The rapper also showed images of the devastation in Gaza and performed “Hind’s Hall,” a protest song about pro-Palestine demonstrators who occupied a building and named it after Hind Raja, a six-year-old killed by the Israeli military.
“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,’” he said during the first MetLife show.
“I said, ‘Free Palestine!’ I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.”
Macklemore reiterated his support for Palestinians at the second MetLife show amid fierce criticism and addressed Jewish members of the audience, as he said: “Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you.
“My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality.”
Pink, born Alecia Beth Moore, vowed to “keep speaking out” despite being “hurt” by backlash after reposting criticism of Macklemore’s speech calling to “free Palestine”.
“I’d rather be disagreed with for what I actually said than hated for what anybody else wrote, so let me say it,” she wrote.
