Macklemore’s opening slot on Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour unraveled after New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft barred the rapper from Gillette Stadium and other venues balked at keeping him attached to the lineup.
The break came after Macklemore used Sheeran’s Sept. 4 and 5 MetLife Stadium shows in New Jersey to bring his pro-Palestinian message onto the stage.
During those sets, Macklemore appeared in a keffiyeh, played footage of destruction in Gaza, performed “Hind’s Hall” and pushed the audience into “Free Palestine” chants.
“Hind’s Hall” includes lyrics accusing Israel of genocide.
This you? pic.twitter.com/9oot0ZWTLK
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) September 7, 2026
Sheeran is scheduled to play Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Sept. 25 and 26. Kraft’s Kraft Group owns the venue.
Kraft commented that Macklemore’s MetLife material made him unacceptable for Gillette, citing the rapper’s recent conduct and what he described as a “broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery.”
“Gillette Stadium has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech,” Kraft said.
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Kraft said he reached the decision after reviewing Macklemore’s recent actions and what was presented from the stage during Sheeran’s New Jersey dates.
“Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of anti-Semitic 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 shows would not be permitted,” Kraft said.
Macklemore’s Gillette problem quickly became a problem for the rest of Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour. He had been slated for eight of the final 10 American shows, and eight of those final 10 stops were set for NFL stadiums.
Rolling Stone received confirmation from Messina Touring Group, the tour’s U.S. promoter, that upcoming venues would not host the concerts if Macklemore stayed on the bill.
The promoter said that refusal could have forced cancellations and affected hundreds of thousands of fans.
“After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates,” Messina Touring Group said.
Complaints over the MetLife performances had already been circulating before the tour decision.
The Instagram account “Stop Antisemitism” posted a video calling Macklemore’s performance “awful.” Pink then shared that video on her Instagram story, prompting criticism from people who took the repost as a pro-Israel signal.
Kraft, who founded the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism in 2019, said the ban was not intended to deny Palestinian suffering or stop people from speaking for civilians.
“This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf,” Kraft said.
His objection, Kraft said, was to advocacy that hurts Jewish people or minimizes Hamas’ responsibility.
“But that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas, a designated terrorist organization whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering,” Kraft said.
Kraft also left open the possibility of a direct conversation with Macklemore.
“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.
Macklemore responded Monday with a long Instagram statement that cast Kraft and venue operators as the forces behind his removal while saying Sheeran had been pushed into an ugly spot.
The rapper began by saying the famous performers involved were not the real victims.
“I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim,” Macklemore wrote. “We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.”
Macklemore wrote that “the victims are the Palestinian people,” pointing to Palestinians who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through violence.
He said he and Sheeran, whom he called a “friend” and “brother,” had difficult conversations after MetLife, while insisting that their relationship could not change his version of how the tour dispute unfolded.
Macklemore claimed Sheeran told him Kraft had organized pressure from other stadium owners until the venues delivered an ultimatum.
“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,” Macklemore wrote.
The rapper wrote that Sheeran was in “a f—ed up position” because his usual refusal to take political sides was being tested.
Macklemore said Sheeran told him “Free Palestine” and the Palestinian flag had hurt people he had spoken with, while Macklemore answered that the reaction showed a “fundamental disconnect.”
He argued that he had used the same phrase onstage for nearly three years, but that it became dangerous once the message reached major U.S. stadiums beside one of the world’s biggest artists.
“At a certain level of exposure, ‘Free Palestine’ becomes too much of a risk,” Macklemore wrote.
Macklemore also denied that his message was antisemitic, writing that antisemitism is real and should not be turned into protection for Israel from criticism.
“When criticizing Israel, opposing Zionism or saying ‘Free Palestine’ gets conflated with hatred of Jewish people, it doesn’t protect Jewish people,” Macklemore wrote. “It protects Israel from accountability.”
Even after losing the rest of the tour, Macklemore framed the two MetLife dates as enough.
“I didn’t need 10 shows from Ed. I needed 2,” Macklemore wrote. “Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say. Free Palestine.”
Macklemore wrote that if those words cost him the tour while returning attention to Palestine, “then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.”