Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour after shouting "Free Palestine" onstage. A promoter protecting its brand, or punishing an artist for speaking up?
It reportedly followed pressure from Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and several opening acts quit in solidarity. The fallout has since drawn in singer Pink, whose comments criticising Macklemore sparked their own backlash.
What happened
During two September shows on Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour, Macklemore told the crowd he wanted to say Free Palestine and performed Hind's Hall, a song referencing the Columbia University protest occupation. After a petition from the Israeli American Council and reported pressure from stadium owners including Robert Kraft, tour promoters removed Macklemore from the remaining dates. Several other opening acts, including Finneas, Lukas Graham and members of Sheeran's own backing band, withdrew from the tour in solidarity. Macklemore then pledged to donate his full $1 million in tour earnings to Palestinian relief organizations.
Why people disagree
Kraft and supporters of the decision say the tour is a music event, not a political rally, and that the onstage speech crossed from artistic expression into a one-sided political platform that alienated part of the audience. Macklemore and the artists who walked in solidarity argue that removing an artist for advocating for Palestinians, while his advocacy continues unimpeded through his own music elsewhere, is itself a political choice, not a neutral one.
What's still unclear
Whether the wave of other artists dropping out changes the tour's commercial or reputational trajectory more than the original controversy did.
Sources
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