Ed Sheeran Says Promoter, Not He, Removed Macklemore From Tour After Anti-Israel Stage Remarks

NEW YORK (VINnews) — Pop star Ed Sheeran said Tuesday that he did not personally drop rapper Macklemore from his U.S. stadium tour, attributing the decision to the tour’s promoter and venue operators after Macklemore used opening-act sets to denounce Israel.​

Sheeran posted a lengthy statement on Instagram after Macklemore was pulled from remaining dates on the Loop Tour. The British singer said Macklemore’s contract was with the promoter, not with him, and that several venues threatened to cancel shows if the rapper remained on the bill.​

“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,” Sheeran wrote. He said he spoke with venue officials throughout the week “to try and build a bridge,” including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose company owns Gillette Stadium outside Boston, where Sheeran is scheduled to play later this month.​

Sheeran said he would not cancel dates that fans and crew were counting on. “I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living,” he wrote.​

Macklemore, born Ben Haggerty, opened two Sheeran concerts at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sept. 4 and 5. During those sets he shouted “Free Palestine,” criticized Israel’s war in Gaza and performed his protest song “Hind’s Hall.” Jewish advocacy groups, including the Israeli-American Council, condemned the remarks and urged venues to keep the tour focused on music rather than political messaging.​

On Monday, Macklemore said Sheeran told him Kraft would not allow him to perform at Gillette Stadium and that other stadium owners issued a similar ultimatum: keep Macklemore on the tour and the shows would not go on. Messina Touring Group, the U.S. promoter, said venues notified it they would not host concerts with Macklemore on the lineup, a move that would have risked canceling dates and affecting hundreds of thousands of ticket holders.​

Kraft confirmed he barred Macklemore from the Sept. 25-26 Gillette dates. In a statement, he cited the New Jersey performances and what he called “a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.” Kraft said the decision was not meant to deny Palestinian civilians’ suffering or the right to advocate for them, but that hosting Macklemore would “cross that line” at a venue that seeks a welcoming environment and does not provide a platform for hate speech.​

Sheeran said he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and called the suffering on both sides “a human tragedy.” He added that he keeps politics off his professional stage, has personal views he does not air publicly and does not consider silence the same as indifference. He said Macklemore asked to join the tour last year and that opening acts ordinarily choose their own set lists. After the New Jersey shows, he said, venues objected to “how Macklemore conveyed part of his message,” not necessarily to every word spoken.​

Macklemore said he hoped the dispute would not end a 13-year friendship with Sheeran. The rapper was slated to open most remaining U.S. stadium dates, including stops in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Dallas and Tampa, before the promoter removed him. The tour is scheduled to resume Friday in Philadelphia without him.​