Shortly after sharing pro-Palestinian messages at a concert earlier this month in New Jersey, Macklemore is no longer attached to Ed Sheeran’s “Loop Tour.”
The Seattle-based rapper announced on Instagram his removal today, Sept. 14.
“I’m not sure how to start this, so I’m going to speak from the heart and share the truth,” Macklemore said. “Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.”
This comes after he shared pro-Palestinian messages at both MetLife shows, Sept. 4 and 5, and faced backlash from the Israeli American Council and the artist, Pink, according to Rolling Stone.
Macklemore added in his message that Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, specifically urged Sheeran to drop him.
“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” Macklemore said. “Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”
Kraft later confirmed his decision in a statement provided to TMZ.
“Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line,” Kraft said in a statement.
Macklemore had just joined Sheeran’s tour, with the “Thrift Shop” and “Hind’s Hall” rapper originally slated to do 10 shows with Sheeran.
In his statement, Macklemore states that he only needed two shows to get his message across.
“I didn’t need 10 shows from Ed. I needed 2. Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the worlds that somehow became too dangerous to say,” Macklemore said. “Free Palestine. But if those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.”
Ed Sheeran’s “Loop” tour continues without Macklemore Sept. 19 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
You can read Macklemore’s full statement here.
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