Macklemore Dropped From Sheeran Tour After Pro-Palestine Speech — SkimNews
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- Macklemore was dropped from 8 of the 10 remaining dates on Ed Sheeran's U.S. Loop Tour after telling a Sept. 4 MetLife Stadium crowd that he joined the tour specifically to say 'Free Palestine' in stadiums 'so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.'
- Messina Touring Group, the concert promoter, said upcoming venues notified them they would not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, and that his removal was necessary to avoid canceling the tour and impacting 'hundreds of thousands of fans.'
- Israeli American Council circulated a petition demanding Macklemore's removal, arguing the Ed Sheeran concert was 'not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event' and that the issue was 'where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.'
- Macklemore performed his song 'Hind's Hall' — written about pro-Palestine demonstrators who occupied a building at Columbia University after the murder of Hind Raja — while images of Gaza destruction were shown on stadium screens.
- Pink reposted a call for Macklemore to be dropped from the tour on social media, fueling what the source describes as a 'second wave of headlines' after the speech originally went viral.
- The Loop Tour resumes Sept. 19 in Philadelphia, with Macklemore's removal costing him appearances at venues including Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Why it matters: Macklemore loses 8 stadium support slots and the platform he said he joined the tour to use, while Sheeran's remaining tour dates proceed without disruption. The promoter's framing — venues refused, not the headliner — shifts the gatekeeping decision onto stadium operators, who now functionally decide which political speech is allowed on their stages.
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