Rapper Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran tour after anti-Israel rhetoric at concerts - National Post
U.S. rapper Macklemore, performs in France, on August 30, 2026. Photo by ARNAUD FINISTRE /AFP via Getty ImagesArticle contentAmerican rapper Macklemore was dropped from musician Ed Sheeran’s tour after anti-Israel rhetoric at previous concerts.
In a post on Instagram on Monday, he said: “Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from the Loop tour.”
Macklemore, 43, opened for the English singer-songwriter earlier this month at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey when he chanted “Free Palestine” and accused Israel of apartheid and genocide, the Jewish Journal of Greater Boston reported.
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“There was a pre-planned video with IDF soldiers as Nazis,” concertgoer Lauren Chizner told CBS News.
In a video posted on X by Macklemore showing him speaking to the MetLife crowd, he said: “One of the reasons why I wanted to come on this tour was because I wanted to stand up here on stages and stadiums across America and say two words that are near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine.”
He told Jewish crowd members that criticizing Israel was not a criticism of the Jewish people.
The Israeli American Council called on Sheeran to remove Macklemore from his tour. “Do not allow your stage to be used to divide people or spread one-sided political propaganda,” the group wrote on Instagram.
The group started a petition to have Macklemore removed from the tour.
“The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda,” it said online.
“This becomes even more troubling when the message relies on selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact, without context or complexity.”
