Macklemore’s impassioned mid-set protest speech about the state of affairs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank drew accusations of hate speech and antisemitism from several prominent Jewish voices, including singer Pink, the Israeli American Council and billionaire Robert Kraft. Following a reported direct intervention by Kraft, who owns the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, where the tour will stop later this week, Macklemore was forced to leave the run, allegedly by Sheeran’s management team.

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The ensuing backlash saw Sheeran come under continuous fire on social media for dropping the American rapper for speaking out, and saw Sheeran’s own morals scrutinised for his attempts to remain politically neutral throughout. As the dominoes fell, all of the support acts withdrew themselves from the tour – US genius FINNEAS, Danish group Lukas Graham, and Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Boega all pulled out, before even Sheeran’s backing musicians also left. Coming into the most recent night of the Loop Tour on Saturday September 19, there were doubts that Ed Sheeran would be able to perform at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field at all. However, in a parallel to the beginning of his career where he gained a reputation for busking and playing hundreds of pop-up shows around the UK, on the night Sheeran turned up and made most of it happen with just a guitar and a microphone (along with some help from new backing musicians). But before the music commenced, he opened the evening with an acknowledgement of the events of this week. He first weighed in on how he’s used to criticism for his music, which he remarks isn’t for everyone, before saying “but this week, the criticism was about something much more important, and I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.”  

 

 

 

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“I don’t want to disappoint fans, and I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” he added, before speaking about how his priority is to make concerts safe spaces for fans and continue to run the tour for them. Speaking indirectly about the boycott on Macklemore by Kraft and other stadium-owners, he said “I am deeply worried about the idea that venues should pre-approve content for performers. This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.”

He then finally spoke about Israel and Palestine, saying “I’ve tried in my career to not 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 any more.” He cautiously addressed both sides of the ongoing conflict, continuing “what happened in Israel at the Nova music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic, unjustifiable, and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives. And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”

Later in the show, Sheeran began another statement of how close he came to calling it quits over the tour, and his career as a whole. “Tonight has been honestly the best show of my life,” he told the crowd – “I really didn’t know whether this tour would carry on, I really didn’t know whether I’d get on stage again, whether I even wanted to be an artist at all.” He then thanked the fans for sticking by him and celebrated the amount of tickets that continued to sell after the fallout from Macklemore’s removal.

For many of his detractors, Ed Sheeran’s emotional speeches may be too little too late, but as a gesture Sheeran, Robert Kraft and Macklemore have all reportedly made large donations to Palestinian charities, with Macklemore donating his full takings from the two nights of the tour he performed on. The Loop Tour continues with two nights at the Gillette Stadium on September 25 and 26 – check out Ed Sheeran’s setlist from the Lincoln Financial Field below:

1. Castle on the Hill
2. Shivers
3. The A Team
4. Sapphire
5. Don’t
6. Eyes Closed
7. I’m a Mess
8. Take It Back / Superstition / Ain’t No Sunshine
9. Lego House
10. Supermarket Flowers
11. Tenerife Sea
12. Give Me Love
(with backing band)
13. Galway Girl
14. Nancy Mulligan
15. I Don’t Care
16. Old Phone
17. Camera
18. Celestial
19. Photograph
20. Eastside / 2002 / Cold Water / Little Things / Love Yourself
21. Thinking Out Loud
22. Perfect
23. I See Fire
24. Blood Stream
25. Afterglow
(Encore)
26. You Need Me, I Don’t Need You
27. Shape of Yourself
28. Azizam
29. Bad Habits

English chart-topping singer-songwriter Sheeran started the Loop Tour in support of his 2025 UK Number One Album ‘Play’ this January, visiting New Zealand, Australia and Latin America in the first half of the year. The North American leg kicked off in June, with British star Myles Smith acting as lead support act for the majority of dates until the last August show in Detroit, Michigan.

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Macklemore was scheduled to be main support for the second stretch, with September’s shows starting with two nights at East Rutherford’s MetLife Stadium, followed by one at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field and two at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. During both shows at the MetLife Stadium on September 4 and 5, he opened his pro-Palestine protest song ‘Hind’s Hall’ with a passionate speech addressing the worsening situations in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In the break from the music, he said he wanted the people of Palestine to know “they have not been forgotten”, and spoke of other global issues, adding “I say Free Palestine, free Cuba, Congo, Sudan and Iran and all the people of America who live in fear because of this terrorist organisation ICE.” In the conflict following on from the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack in 2023, it has been concluded that Israel are committing genocide in Palestine by both the United Nations and Amnesty International, and the British Government have placed sanctions on illegal Israeli West Bank settlements in recent weeks. The Israeli government denies all allegations regarding genocide and war crimes.

Macklemore’s actions were met with outrage by Israeli and Jewish groups including the Israeli American Council, which started a petition to Sheeran and his management team to drop the rapper from the remaining tour dates. Singer Pink (stylised P!NK) shared a post by page StopAntisemitism calling for Macklemore’s removal, before writing her own feelings about the effect of the incident on Jewish-Americans in an Instagram update. Her comment says in-part “You don’t have to agree with one thing Israel’s government does to not want the Jewish family two rows down from you to be scared or targeted at a concert.”    

 

 

 

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This evening, Macklemore announced on social media that he had been removed from all future dates of the Loop Tour, citing that the decision was made by “Ed Sheeran and his team”. In the post, he alleges that in conversation with Sheeran he found out that Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the Gillette Stadium – which was set to host the next two dates of the tour, would block the events if Macklemore was performing. In his own words, “Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. 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 clarifies in the piece that there is no ill-feeling with Ed Sheeran, and cements his philosophy that the two shows he played were worth it to send his message: “Free Palestine.”

Many figures in music have backed Macklemore’s resolve throughout, including Garbage singer Shirley Manson, who described his dismissal in an Instagram post as “madness. Sheer madness.” and Foo Fighter’s guitarist Chris Shiflett, who in conversation on the matter on X with blues artist Joe Bonamassa wrote “maybe speaking out against genocide trumps etiquette.” Elsewhere, Macklemore’s Instagram comments have seen replies from stars including UK rock group Bob Vylan frontman Bobby Vylan, who quoted the line “There is no thanks for a duty”. Bobby Vylan was at the centre of a year-long investigation by the Met Police, following his pro-Palestine speech and chants of “death to the IDF” during the band’s 2025 Glastonbury appearance – the Met Police announced in August that they will be taking no further action.

Messina Touring Group, who are the promoter for the US Loop Tour dates, told Rolling Stone that they had been informed by the venues that shows would not go ahead with Macklemore on the bill, and confirmed that the tour will continue without him. Variety have since published a statement by Robert Kraft explaining his reasoning for axing Macklemore, which says “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.”

For Ed Sheeran, the show must go on. His remaining shows for September are at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA on the 19th, and the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA on the 25th and 26th.

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EUROPE!! We're back in '16 for our biggest tour yet. @Raury & @XperienceXP as special guests! PRE-SALE Wed at 9:30am GMT time.

— Macklemore (@macklemore) October 26, 2015

As Macklemore says in his tweet; tickets for the shows will be released this Wednesday (27th October). Information on dates and ticket availability will be found here.

Joining them on this tour will be up and coming electronic musician Raury, who is enjoying a fast improving growing reputation in music; having been recently nominated for the BBC’s Sound of 2015 poll.

See below for a full list of tour dates and locations:

1st March – Antwerpen, Belgium – Sportspaleis
3rd March – Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg – Rockhal
6th March – Oslo, Norway – Spektrum
8th March – Stockholm, Sweden – Ericsson Globe
10th March – Copenhagen, Denmark – Forum
12th March – Koln, Germany – Lanxess Arena
14th March – Berlin, Germany – Mercedes-Benz Arena
15th March – Stuttgart, Germany – Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle
16th March – Hamburg, Germany – Barclaycard Arena
18th March – Lodz, Poland – Atlas Arena
19th March – Vienna, Austria – Stadthalle
21st March – Zurich, Switzerland – Hallenstadion
22nd March – Le Grand-Saconnex, Switzerland – Geneva Arena
25th March – Paris, France – Accorhotels Arena
26th March – Nantes, France – Zenith Nantes Metropole
27th March – Perols, France – Park & Suites Arena
30th March – Lisboa, Portugal – Meo Arena

1st April – Madrid, Spain – Barclaycard Center
4th April – Milan, Italy – Mediolanum Forum
6th April – Linz, Austria – Tipsarena
7th April – Munich, Germany – Olympiahalle
10th April – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
12th April – Manchester, UK – Manchester Arena
13th April – Glasgow, UK – The SSE Hydro
15th April – Dublin, Ireland – 3Arena
21st April – Belfast, UK – SSE Arena
22nd April – Newcastle, UK – Metro Radio Arena
23rd April – Leeds, UK – First Direct Arena
24th April – Nottingham, UK – Capital FM Arena
26th April – Birmingham, UK – Barclaycard Arena
27th April – London, UK – The O2

Even if you are not the biggest fan of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, you have to admire their work ethic, as during the tour on numerous occasions they are performing day in day out, it includes a lot of dates for what is a relatively short period of time.