Ed Sheeran has responded after Macklemore said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft organized a stadium boycott that forced him off Sheeran’s tour.
Macklemore, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, alleged Monday that Kraft called Sheeran and threatened to cancel Sheeran’s planned tour stop if Macklemore was still performing. He also alleged that Sheeran told him Kraft rallied other stadium owners to give Sheeran the same ultimatum.
The ultimatum came amid criticism of Macklemore for his pro-Palestinian remarks during his opening performances of Sheeran’s tour at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
“I told him that if those words were more offensive than the 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 said of his conversation with Sheeran.
Sheeran said Tuesday morning in a statement on Instagram that it was important to “set out some facts.” He confirmed that he agreed that Macklemore could choose his own setlist and that venues contacted him, saying they would pull his tour dates after Macklemore joined him at MetLife.
“I was informed that this stance was based on how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance, rather than everything that was said,” Sheeran said. “I spoke with venues at length all week to try and build a bridge. One of those people was Robert Kraft.”
Ultimately, the tour promoter decided to pull Macklemore, Sheeran said. He said Macklemore’s contract was with the promoter, not him.
“I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict,” Sheeran said. “Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
He added that he doesn’t use his “professional platform” for politics because the audiences who attend his show come from all backgrounds and “do not expect a political forum.” Sheeran expressed respect for Macklemore and said people can take multiple approaches.
Messina Touring Group, the promoter for Sheeran’s tour, told Rolling Stone on Monday that it was informed that multiple venues “will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.”
The statement said cancellations would “impact hundreds of thousands of fans,” confirming that Macklemore would no longer perform on his previously scheduled dates.
Macklemore hasn’t indicated whether he plans to take legal action, and NBC News has not reviewed his touring contract. Los Angeles entertainment lawyer Bryan M. Sullivan said Macklemore’s team could face an uphill battle because touring contracts often give promoters broad discretion to terminate acts.
He added that many contracts include broadly worded “behavior clauses” barring artists from conduct that promoters could construe as reputationally damaging or controversial.
One of Sheeran’s other openers, Aaron Rowe, announced Tuesday that he would withdraw from the tour. He wrote that he can’t stand by while billionaires “silence the rightful voices” of those speaking out against the “savage murder of children.”
“Ed has been a friend to me and has changed my life, I could never thank him enough for this,” Rowe wrote. “But as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine, and violent occupation.”
Macklemore’s Instagram post announcing he had been dropped from the tour was reposted nearly 800,000 times in less than a day. He has gotten support from all types of public figures, including fellow artists, actors, activists and internet personalities.
Ms. Rachel, the wildly popular children’s content creator whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, posted a statement on her Instagram account criticizing Sheeran for not having tried to show “that we won’t be bullied” to punish people who support Palestinians.
“Instead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows,” Accurso wrote. “A genocide is happening in Gaza. We all need to speak out against it.”
A United Nations commission said in an independent inquiry published last year that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Israeli government officials have denied the allegations, calling them “distorted and false.”
Model Bella Hadid shared Macklemore’s statement to her Instagram Stories on Monday, and her sister Alana commented on his post. Their father, Mohamed Hadid, has shared the story of how his family was expelled from their home in Nazareth in the 1948 Nakba, in which an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly removed in preparation for the founding of Israel.
Bella Hadid didn’t comment directly on Macklemore’s situation, but she shared a post by the Middle East historian Assal Rad.
“Palestinians are so dehumanized that their advocates are punished while their killers roam free,” Rad wrote. “What does it mean for a society that condones rather than condemns the mass slaughter of children?”
Kneecap, the Irish artists who successfully fought a terrorism charge in the U.K. over one of its singers’ waving a flag of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, posted a photo with Macklemore to its account. Macklemore is notably of Irish Catholic heritage, as is Sheeran.
“All love and solidarity to @macklemore,” Kneecap captioned the post. “FREE PALESTINE.”
Dearborn, Michigan, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud invited Macklemore to perform at a concert sponsored by the city and free for the crowd. The city is home to the largest Arab American community in the country.
“Hey @macklemore, if they don’t want you performing in their stadiums, you’re always welcome in Dearborn. Come put on a show here,” Hammoud wrote on X.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called it “incredibly disappointing” to see her constituent — Macklemore is a native of Seattle — removed from the tour because of his support for Palestinians. She added that it was a moment to find “moral conscience” and “end this genocide.”
“We should all be outraged that powerful people are more upset about what an artist says than the displacement, starvation, and killing of innocent Palestinian children and families,” Jayapal said. “Thank you, Macklemore, for speaking up.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., thanked Macklemore on X for “continuing to speak out against the genocide.”
“None of us are free until all of us are free,” she wrote.
Sports journalist Jemele Hill remarked on the situation in a repost of an announcement that Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, would perform at AT&T Stadium in Texas in November.
“Man who released a song called Heil Hitler and called himself a Nazi completely welcome to perform in a stadium,” Hill wrote. “Man who said Free Palestine is not.”
Sheeran’s tour is scheduled for a stop at the stadium in October. It’s unclear which stadium owners are alleged to have told Kraft they would join the ultimatum issued to Sheeran.
Representatives for AT&T Stadium, which is owned by the city of Arlington, Texas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Macklemore’s own comment section is also filled with support. Celebrities Hannah Einbinder, Marcia Cross and Zara Larson left multiple heart emojis. Podcaster and internet personality Matt Rogers wrote “much respect” in an Instagram comment.
Singer Kehlani, who has also been outspoken in her support of Palestinians, wrote that she was behind Macklemore and adored him.
“A LOT of the venues / owners are rallied together this way. honored to know you brother,” she wrote.
Activist Greta Thunberg wrote, “Full solidarity and free Palestine.”
“Artists’ very active silence in the face of injustice and genocide will not be forgotten,” Thunberg commented on Macklemore’s post.
In his statement Monday, Kraft didn’t deny Macklemore’s accusations. He said the decision was based on Macklemore’s “recent actions” onstage and “a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”
Kraft added that the decision wasn’t about trying to stifle Palestinian advocacy or diminishing the suffering of Palestinians.
“I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same — peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate,” Kraft said.
