Macklemore says U.S. stadium owners pressured Ed Sheeran to drop him from tour

U.S. rapper, singer, dancer and DJ, Benjamin Haggerty, known as Macklemore, performs in central-eastern France on Aug. 30. The Seattle rapper was cut from the remainder of Ed Sheeran's U.S. leg tour, Macklemore said in a statement, after billionaire Robert Kraft said he would not be allowed to perform at Gillette Stadium and reportedly rallying other stadium owners to issue the same 'ultimatum.' (Arnaud Finistre/AFP/Getty Images)Social SharingMacklemore has been dropped from the U.S. leg of English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran's tour after several venues in the United States threatened to cancel the scheduled concerts if the American rapper — and outspoken advocate for Palestinians — was not removed.

Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, better known by his stage name Macklemore, joined Sheeran for the first two U.S. shows on the Loop Tour on Sept. 4 and 5 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The Seattle-born musician and Grammy winner was slated to open for the remaining eight of Sheeran's 10 U.S. shows before he was dropped from the tour.

Macklemore's onstage remarks at MetLife — including chanting "Free Palestine" and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank — drew some controversy from pro-Israel groups. The rapper also wore a keffiyeh, a checkered black-and-white scarf long worn by Palestinians, and performed his song "Hind's Hall," one of two songs he released in 2024 in support of student protesters on university campuses and to decry Israel's military actions in Gaza following Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli American Council also launched a petition calling for Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the rest of the tour.

Messina Touring Group, the promoter of the U.S. leg of the tour, told Rolling Stone magazine that the decision to remove Macklemore came after "discussions with stakeholders."

"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," the group said on Monday.

Macklemore responded Monday in a lengthy statement posted on Instagram, blaming his removal from the tour on New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who he claimed rallied other stadium owners to threaten to cancel scheduled concerts if Macklemore was not taken off the bill. The rapper said the threat to cancel the tour dates placed Sheeran, his friend, in a difficult position after Kraft, who also owns Gillette Stadium, said Macklemore would not be allowed onstage.

"Ed [Sheeran] was in a f--ked up position. 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," Macklemore said.

"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.'"

CBC News reached out to representatives for Sheeran and Kraft for comment but did not immediately hear back.

In his onstage speech, Macklemore said: "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."

"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 added that his criticism was directed at Israel's government and was not an attack on Jewish people.

"To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters: criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you," he said in his speech onstage at the second show at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 5. "My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect and equality."

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Following his comments, singer-songwriter Pink reshared a social media post from StopAntisemitism calling for him to be removed from the tour. She later said that the post "said things in words I didn't write, and I wouldn't have chosen all of them," but defended her criticism of the rapper.

"He stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn't about them. You don't get to decide that for us," Pink said on Friday in a lengthy statement on Instagram.

"That's what prompted my repost. Not 'Free Palestine,' and not anyone's right to say it. I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I'm not asking now," she wrote.

Pink also recalled a 2014 performance by Macklemore in which he wore a costume onstage that was widely criticized as offensive and antisemitic. The rapper later apologized, saying, "I respect all cultures and all people," and that the costume was not meant to be a caricature of a Jewish man.

Reaction to Macklemore's statement on Monday included support for the rapper.

"The way you stand in solidarity here is an absolute model. Thank you for walking through this fire while centering Palestinians," commented Noura Erakat, a Palestinian-American activist, professor and human rights attorney.

"Thank you for recognizing your relative power and privilege. Thank you for having the humility to be changed by Palestinians, enough to learn not just a phrase but a pillar of our continuity — thank you for not abandoning this duty."

U.S. singer-songwriter Lauren Jauregui, who has also been an advocate for Palestinians, said: "So much love and respect for you."

Earlier this month, more than 170 Jewish members of the entertainment industry signed an open letter defending American actor Mark Ruffalo from what they called an "outrageous smear campaign." The letter said he faced "the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism" for speaking out against Paramount Skydance's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and drawing connections between the deal and the war in Gaza.

It also comes as Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon said that she continues to lose work in her industry as a result of her outspoken support for Palestinians. Speaking at the Venice Film Festival, Sarandon said resistance to hiring outspoken critics of Israel, including her and other actors, ⁠remained particularly strong among major studios.

Sara Jabakhanji is a Toronto-based senior writer assigned to cover news developments in the Middle East. She has worked in CBC bureaus in Ottawa, London and Toronto. You can reach her at sara.jabakhanji@cbc.ca.