Ed Sheeran, Macklemore and Robert Kraft: A ‘Free Palestine’ Chant Blew Up Into a Tour Fallout and a $4 Million Standoff
A rapper going off script at a New Jersey stadium turned into one of the messiest tour dramas this year pulling in a Patriots owner, a pop star, and millions in pledged donations. Macklemore got dropped from the rest of Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour after making pro-Palestinian comments at two MetLife Stadium shows.
Since then, four other opening acts have bailed too; Macklemore and Robert Kraft have gone back and forth publicly, and both men have thrown out multimillion-dollar pledges.
What happened at MetLife
Opening for Sheeran on Sept. 4 and 5 in East Rutherford, Macklemore used part of his set to talk about Gaza: “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.”
He followed it with his song “Hind’s Hall” while war footage from Gaza played behind him, and told Jewish fans directly, “criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you.”
Backlash was immediate from fans, from the account Stop Antisemitism, and from the Israeli-American Council, which represents over 150,000 people and launched a petition to get him pulled from the tour.
Kraft gets involved
Macklemore says Sheeran told him Kraft called directly after MetLife. With a Gillette Stadium date coming up, a venue Kraft owns, Macklemore claims Kraft not only barred him from playing there but rallied other stadium owners to threaten Sheeran: drop Macklemore or lose their venues too. Kraft confirmed making the call, citing the MetLife performances and “a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery” he found offensive to the Jewish community, though he didn’t address the claim about pressuring other owners.
P!nk also weighed in, saying Macklemore’s set felt like speaking for Jewish fans instead of to them “You don’t get to decide that for us” while noting her issue wasn’t with “Free Palestine” as a phrase.
Why he was actually removed
Promoter Messina Touring Group said venues were threatening to cancel dates entirely if Macklemore stayed on the bill, putting hundreds of thousands of tickets at risk, so they cut him. Sheeran backed this up on Instagram, saying it wasn’t his call.
Macklemore described “difficult conversations” with Sheeran afterward, ones “rooted in love and respect” that still ended in disagreement, including Sheeran telling him the words “Free Palestine” had hurt people he’d spoken to. Macklemore says he responded that those words shouldn’t be more offensive than dead Palestinian children.
The exodus continues
Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe, and members of Sheeran’s own band Beoga all quit the remaining dates. Since some affected venues are publicly owned (unlike Gillette), legal experts flagged bigger free-speech questions. Lee Rowland of the National Coalition Against Censorship said Kraft was within his rights but warned the episode shows “the immense power that money has over our public discourse” and predicted artists would start self-censoring. The tour, which had grossed $98.6 million across 17 shows, carried on without him.
A donation standoff
On Sept. 16, Macklemore pledged his full $1 million tour earnings to six Palestinian aid groups and publicly challenged Kraft to match it. Kraft revealed Sheeran had actually called him earlier that same day, before the public challenge, asking him to match a separate $2 million donation from Sheeran.
