US rapper Macklemore has been dropped from Ed Sheeran’s ongoing American tour after making pro-Palestinian statements from the stage at two concerts in New Jersey.
Macklemore, whose legal name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, announced the removal in a post on Instagram, DR reports. He had been the opening act on Sheeran’s current US tour and played two sets at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month.
At the September 4 concert, the rapper called for Palestinian freedom and then performed his song Hind’s Hall, which condemns Israel’s military action in Gaza, according to the BBC. Footage of destruction in Gaza was shown on the stadium screens during the performance. The BBC adds that he told the crowd he had joined the tour partly to deliver that message in a stadium.
The campaign group StopAntisemitism criticized the performance, saying Jewish fans had bought tickets to see Sheeran and not to be confronted with anti-Israeli propaganda. The following evening, Macklemore returned to the same stage and addressed Jewish audience members directly. He said his criticism was aimed at Israel’s actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, not at Jewish people.
Criticism continued regardless, including a petition from the Israeli-American Council urging Sheeran to remove him from the lineup, DR reports.
Difficult conversations
In his Instagram post, Macklemore wrote that he was removed after difficult conversations with Sheeran. Those talks ended in what he described as fundamental disagreement.
Tour promoter Messina Touring Group told Rolling Stone that venues on upcoming US dates had said they would not allow concerts to proceed with Macklemore on the bill. According to the promoter, that would have resulted in canceled shows affecting hundreds of thousands of fans. Variety reported on September 14 that he would not appear on the remaining support dates.
Robert Kraft, the American businessman who owns Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, told Rolling Stone that he had barred the rapper from the venue. Kraft said the stadium would not provide a platform for hate speech, and cited what he called a longer history of antisemitic rhetoric.
Macklemore wrote that turning accusations of antisemitism into a weapon has been one of the most effective ways to silence people. He argued that conflating criticism of Israel with hatred of Jews shields Israel from accountability rather than protecting Jewish people.
The rapper also stressed that he does not consider himself a victim in the case, naming the Palestinian population as the victims. He wrote that if his words returned the conversation to Palestine, the two concerts made it his most successful tour. Sheeran has not commented on the removal, and no replacement has been named.
