A week after Macklemore repeatedly called to “Free Palestine” and performed his anti-Israel song “Hind’s Hall” while opening for Ed Sheeran, the rapper was dropped from the remaining U.S. dates he was scheduled to perform on the “Shape of You” singer’s “Loop Tour.”
“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,” Messina Touring Group, the promoter of the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”
Macklemore was slated to appear at eight of the 10 shows left on the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s tour.
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On Monday, Macklemore addressed the announcement and doubled down on his stance.
“I’m not sure how to start this. So I’m going to speak from the heart and share the truth,” he wrote in a lengthy Instagram statement. “Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour. But before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious. In this moment I think it matters. I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.”
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“The victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that.”
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On Sept. 4, Macklemore opened for Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He repeatedly chanted “Free Palestine” while a slideshow played on the screen behind him, showing footage from the war in Gaza.
Several fans were upset by the performance, including an Instagram page called “Stop Antisemitism.” The page shared a video criticizing Macklemore, calling the move “awful.” Pink reposted the video to her own Instagram story, which started a new wave of backlash from people criticizing her for seemingly being pro-Israel.
In his Instagram post, Macklemore said he and Sheeran, who he considers a “friend” and “brother,” had “some difficult conversations” in the days following his remarks.
“The type of talks rooted in love and respect for one another that still end in a place of fundamental disagreement,” he wrote. “Nothing I’m writing here is 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.”
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The rapper claimed Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, told Sheeran that Macklemore “would not be allowed” to perform at the stadium.
Kraft issued a statement defending his decision to influence the rapper’s removal from the tour.
“Gillette Stadium has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech,” the statement read.
“Based on Macklemore’s 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, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.”
The statement continued: “This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf. Their pain and loss are real. But that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas, a United States and globally (including Canada, European Union, United Kingdom, and Japan) designated terrorist organization whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering for Palestinians and Israelis alike. I agree with Macklemore. Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering, but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate. Over many decades, I have directed resources to Palestine and created athletic and entrepreneurial opportunities for Palestinians who I admire and respect. Standing with the Palestinian people and standing against Hamas, antisemitism and hate should not be mutually exclusive.
“Much of my time and attention for the last decade has been focused on the fight against antisemitism and hate of all kinds, and I feel a responsibility to stand up when I believe that line has been crossed. I have tremendous respect for Ed and his music, particularly his unique ability to bring people together and spread joy, and I have always been proud to welcome him and his fans to Gillette Stadium.
“I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same – peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate.”
In Macklemore’s post, he said, “Ed also told me that 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.”
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“Ed was in a f—ed up position,” he wrote. “He knew it. 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.'”
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Macklemore said he’s been saying “Free Palestine” onstage for almost three years and questioned why he was being removed from the tour now.
“What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years. So why is it an issue now? Because now I’m sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America. At a certain level of exposure, ‘Free Palestine’ becomes too much of a risk. If I kept doing the shows, saying ‘Free Palestine,’ with Ed implicitly supporting it, the crowd getting loud and showing undeniable support for Palestinian liberation, what artist might speak out next? The stage becomes resistance. Maybe that’s why this time it became so important to silence me.”
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“And one of the most effective ways to enforce that silence has been to weaponize the accusation of antisemitism. Antisemitism is real,” he continued. “And that is exactly why the word matters too much to be used as a shield against criticism of the Israeli state. 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.”
While Macklemore said he hopes his relationship with Sheeran won’t crumble over this, he said he stands by his position.
“I didn’t need 10 shows from Ed. I needed 2. Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say. Free Palestine. But if those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.”
Representatives for Sheeran did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
