Voices across Hollywood and Washington are speaking out after Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour for making pro-Palestine comments on stage.
“Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder, one of TV’s most politically outspoken stars, wrote on her Instagram stories on Tuesday, “Ed Sheeran i say this as a ginger. i hope you get a REALLY bad sun burn. the kind on the back of your entire body where it hurts to lie down or walk or sit.”
YouTuber and children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel also took to Instagram to call out Sheeran. She wrote on Monday, “Ed Sheeran had an opportunity [to] show that we won’t be bullied into punishing people for supporting Palestine. Instead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows. A genocide is happening in Gaza. We all need to speak out against it.”
She added, “If more than 20,000 white children were killed in another part of the world, everyone would be shouting about it at their concerts. Treating some children’s lives as less worthy of outrage is racist. Silence during a genocide is not neutral.”
“Wicked” star Marissa Bode, who is in a wheelchair, said in a TikTok video, “Ed Sheeran, my legs may not work like they used to before, but at least I have a fucking spine. Free Palestine, bitch!”
Sen. Bernie Sanders posted a statement on X, slamming New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whom Macklemore partially blamed for his removal from the Loop Tour in a statement about his exit. “In the United States of America, billionaire stadium owners should not be able to silence artists because they speak out on political issues. Today it is the genocide in Gaza. What’s next? If they can silence one artist, they can silence anyone,” Sanders wrote.
On Sept. 4, Macklemore sang out “Free Palestine” during his set at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. The comments made headlines, and the rapper was removed from Sheeran’s Loop Tour on Sept. 14. The same day, Macklemore released a lengthy statement on Instagram explaining his side of the story. He wrote, “Last Monday, in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said at MetLife, Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him. We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft Group. 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.”
He added, “Ed was in a fucked up position. He knew it. His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before. He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with. I told him that if those words were more offensive than 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. But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides.’”
On Sept. 15, Sheeran released his own statement. He claimed that he spoke with venue owners “at length all week to try and build a bridge” after Macklemore’s comments. Sheeran also asserted that dropping Macklemore was “the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.”
“I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living,” he added.
Despite Sheeran’s comments, openers Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham and Irish band Beoga all left the tour after Macklemore was dropped.
On Wednesday, Macklemore announced that he will donate the $1 million net earnings he received from the Loop Tour to organizations that support the Palestinian people.
“With everything that has happened over the last 48 hours, I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under military occupation, and still fighting for their freedom,” he wrote on Instagram. “I will be donating the entire $1 million of my net earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to six organizations working directly to support the Palestinian people. And I invite Robert Kraft to match my donation. Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth.”
Shortly after Macklemore’s announcement, Kraft put out a statement saying that he and Sheeran are donating $2 million each to the Palestinian cause. The statement, released on the Gillette Stadium X account, read, “I have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people. I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting. Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis. Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges”