Ed Sheeran’s opening act dropped out of his tour in solidarity with Macklemore, who was booted from the concert series for his Israel-bashing comments.
Page D2From§Eachthe supper edition — 15 September 2026
Sheeran drops Macklemore for saying Palestine, watches the bill quit, says he's not complicit
“A guy says two words on a stage, gets his name pulled off a tour by a billionaire who then brags about doing it — that's not a booking decision, that's a bill collector for a war showing his badge. Then the whole opening lineup quits one by one and Sheeran stands up and says "I'm not complicit" like the sentence does the work the exits already undid. The math doesn't care how it feels to say it out loud.”
“Look, Ed Sheeran runs a business, a tour has logistics, and sometimes an opening act's political comments become a distraction from the show — that's not censorship, that's scheduling. Robert Kraft is a private citizen with an opinion, and taking credit for getting someone dropped from a tour isn't blackballing, it's — okay, it's exactly blackballing, forget I said that. The acts who walked are free to walk, nobody's stopping them, they're just proving the point they're walking about, which, yeah, I hear it now.”
The receipts
All of Sheeran’s listed openers have left the tour after New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft worked to have Macklemore removed.
Several opening acts have left singer Ed Sheeran’s tour, announcing their withdrawal, in solidarity with rapper Macklemore after he was removed from the tour following Pro-Palestine comments. Macklemore was dropped from the remaining U.S. dates of Sheeran’s Loop tour after saying “free Palestine”
Children's YouTuber Ms. Rachel criticized reports that Ed Sheeran dropped Macklemore from his ongoing tour because of the rapper's pro-Palestinian advocacy. “Ed Sheeran is making a political statement to his fans when he does a concert to support Ukraine, but considers Palestine too dangerous and political,”
Singer Ed Sheeran attempted damage control on Tuesday as he faces outrage following news that the rapper Macklemore had been kicked off his US tour over his pro-Palestine remarks at the behest of a pro-Israel NFL owner. The "Thrift Shop" rapper had generated outrage from supporters of Israel earlier this month after he shouted "Free…
Billie Eilish’s brother and music collaborator Finneas is the latest of several artists that have pulled out of Ed Sheeran’s tour after rapper Macklemore was removed for delivering a “free Palestine” message. Finneas joins Danish band Lukas Graham, Irish band Beoga and Aaron Rowe in announcing that they would no longer open for Sheeran…
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