By Julian Rothman
On September 14th 2026, Macklemore was officially removed from Ed Sheeran’s latest tour in light of his comments surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict. While performing a New Jersey show, Macklemore announced that “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so that I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very, very dear to my heart: Free Palestine”. Macklemore then performed a song condemning the IDF’s actions in Gaza and supporting pro-Palestine student protests.
Shortly after these comments, Macklemore was, without explanation, removed from the concert tour, causing a massive outrage as many fans saw this as suppression of free speech surrounding a highly controversial topic. However, shortly after the initial wave of outrage, where Ed Sheeran both condemned the October 7th attacks, and described the situation in Gaza as “unjustifiable,” he addresses backlash against his rumored political standing, stating “I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind, because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division; about humanity, not politics. But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore.”
Furthermore, Sheeran revealed that he was primarily motivated to remove Macklemore because several venues for the tour in New Jersey had threatened to completely bar him and any artist playing with him from their venues, should Macklemore remain the opening act. Sheeran stated, “I was informed that this stance was based on how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance, rather than on everything that was said”.
Although Macklemore has been removed from Ed Sheeran’s tour, on September 24th he announced an independent Free Palestine tour, which will premier in Dublin on October 26th, followed by a Paris show on the 29th, followed by London at an unspecified date. According to a CBC report, all available tickets for the concert have been sold out. The topic of Macklemore’s removal is still a topic of hot debate, with many seeing it as a repression of free speech and many seeing it as a justified consequence for being an agitator.
