Macklemore has been removed from the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour following comments he made onstage about Palestine, and the rapper is now pointing to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft as the driving force behind the decision.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Macklemore said Sheeran told him last Monday that Kraft had called him directly. Macklemore was scheduled to play Gillette Stadium, which is owned by the Kraft Group, later this month. According to Macklemore, Sheeran relayed that Kraft said Macklemore would not be allowed to perform at his stadium, and that Kraft had rallied other stadium owners to present Sheeran with an ultimatum: drop Macklemore from the tour, or lose access to their venues. Variety contacted a representative for Kraft, who did not immediately provide comment.
Macklemore wrote that Sheeran told him the phrase "Free Palestine" and the image of the Palestinian flag had been described to him as hurtful by people he'd spoken with. "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," Macklemore wrote, adding that Sheeran "couldn't get past his public facing, 'I don't take sides.'"
In his post, Macklemore was careful to frame the stakes. "I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim," he wrote, noting that all three have "careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world." He said the true victims are Palestinians who "have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence," citing a figure of more than 20,000 children killed in Gaza. He also acknowledged the personal cost of his stance: "I've lost all of those things," referring to money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access, before adding, "there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed."
Concert promoter Messina Touring Group confirmed the removal in a statement issued Sept. 14, saying venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates had notified them they would not allow a concert featuring Macklemore on the lineup, which threatened to cancel the tour entirely and affect "hundreds of thousands of fans." The statement said that after discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore would not perform on the remaining support dates.
The controversy stems from Macklemore's Sept. 4 set at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where he delivered a speech calling to "Free Palestine" before performing his song "Hind's Hall," which supports pro-Palestinian protests. In that speech, he said, "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," adding calls for "free Palestine," "free Lebanon," "free Cuba," "free Congo," "free Sudan," and freedom for "all people in America living in fear of this terrorist organization, ICE." Pink also commented publicly on Macklemore's statements, though her remarks were not detailed in his Instagram post.
Photo: Microsoft, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
