Ed Sheeran says he couldn’t save Macklemore. So who really controls his tour?

Music industry insiders say artists who can fill stadiums typically have significant control over their tours, raising questions about Ed Sheeran’s claim that he had no say in Macklemore being dropped from his Loop Tour.

Four supporting acts have since quit in solidarity with Macklemore, who was removed after making pro-Palestinian comments during a performance at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

Sheeran said the tour promoter made the decision, which in turn said venues would not allow Macklemore to perform.

Robert Kraft, billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, one of the tour’s remaining venues, said Macklemore was dropped because of his recent comments and what Kraft described as a broader history of “antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.”

The promoter functions as the primary commercial entity on a concert tour. On major stadium runs, this involves a major company like Messina Touring Group, which handled Sheeran's tour.

"The promoter puts up the money, pays all of the acts, deals with the venue. They provide the stake, sell the tickets, and the artists come on and play," said Ray Waddell, chief content director for media and conferences for the Oak View Group, an entertainment and venue management company whose properties include the concert trade publication Pollstar.

Sheeran noted in his Instagram post that despite his efforts "to build a bridge" all week, "the venue’s and promoter’s decision was final."

Does the promoter, however, typically hold the ultimate control over who joins the lineup?

"If you’re paying for everything, yes you can make that call," Waddell said, "but almost without exception the promoter wants to do what the artists want."

Dean Sheldon Serwin, an entertainment lawyer who works in the music industry, stated that, speaking broadly, "at the end of the day that superstar headliner is going to have approval over everything."

An artist’s ultimate leverage stems directly from their capability to sell out arenas and stadiums.

"The way to make money in the music industry for real is butts in seats, always has been, always will be," Serwin said. "How many tickets can you sell and how consistently can you sell those tickets?"

Though it might be minimal with performers at the level of Sheeran or Ariana Grande, a commercial trade-off always exists.

"When you want to play at the venues you want to play at, there’s a give and take," Serwin said.

Lil Gary, a music artist's manager who in the past worked in tour management for acts including the Rolling Stones and the Eagles, noted that touring musicians and their representatives expect influence over "a great many things especially when it comes to creative control, but when it gets down to the minutiae, not very much."

She added, however, that non-musical matters can still command their significant interest.

"Artists of a certain stature, they would absolutely dictate how security works," she said as an example.

In her experience, supporting performers almost never exert any meaningful influence over how a tour progresses or its ultimate outcome.

"The opening acts that were on Rolling Stones tours, for the most part they were happy to be there," Gary said. "They just suited up, showed up and did the job."

None of the experts—Gary, Waddell, or Serwin—are involved in Sheeran's tour.

Venue proprietors like Kraft are typically hands-off figures, yet they maintain a decisive voice whenever they make the rare decision to exercise it.

"Certainly they can lock the doors," Waddell said. "They usually hand the keys to the promoter. The promoter comes in and does the show whether it’s a club or a stadium, but that doesn’t mean they vacate all power and influence."

Waddell noted that venue operators, much like concert promoters, are generally savvy enough to anticipate what an artist will do based on past performances.

"I don’t see why it surprised anybody given the history of the artist involved," he said. "That being said, I don’t know that Robert Kraft was up on his Macklemore."

"But," Waddell said, "he got wind of it and he didn’t like it and it’s his stadium."

Although concert tour cancellations occur frequently, they typically stem from performer health issues, and immediate rescheduling and honoring existing tickets provide the best resolution.

"That can’t always happen, but it is the best," Gary said. There is no strong indication that Sheeran's entire tour will be abandoned because of this opening-act issue.

Should that occur, however, several insurance firms would likely step in to manage the aftermath. The most prominent artists generally maintain independent coverage, while promoters hold separate policies that reimburse ticket holders and pay individuals contractually owed money.

"They would go to their respective carriers and sort out their respective losses," Gary said. While these circumstances can easily spark friction and damage commercial ties, Waddell noted that "they work it out because everybody wants to work together again in the future."

"Ed Sheeran’s young. He’s got a lot of tours ahead of him and these tours make a lot of money," he said. "It’s a business and it’s not going away. Everybody’s going to be doing this next year and 10 years after that, God willing."