All four supporting acts for upcoming dates of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour withdrew on Monday in solidarity with rapper Macklemore, who was removed as an opening act over onstage comments in support of Palestine.
Finneas, scheduled to open six South American dates in November, pulled out on Tuesday afternoon. “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote. “I stand with Palestine and its people.”
Irish singer Aaron Rowe, booked for 10 remaining North American dates, announced his withdrawal shortly before. The Irish band Beoga and the Danish pop group Lukas Graham also dropped out the same afternoon, citing objections to Macklemore’s removal.
The dispute began on September 4, when Macklemore opened a Sheeran show at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium with a two-minute speech telling the audience that the people of Gaza and “the occupied West Bank” had not been forgotten. He added: “I say free Palestine. I say free Lebanon. Free Cuba to the Congo to Sudan to Iran.” The remarks prompted a petition for his removal from the Israeli American Council.
Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, one of the venues on the tour, confirmed he pressured Sheeran to drop Macklemore. Kraft said letting Macklemore perform at Gillette Stadium would cross a line given what he called a “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.”
Kraft, a prominent donor to Jewish and Israeli causes, said the removal was “not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf,” but argued that advocacy “should not come at the expense of the Jewish community.” His statement did not address Macklemore’s claim that he had rallied other stadium owners to issue a collective ultimatum.
Macklemore, in an Instagram post, said Sheeran told him Kraft had warned other venue owners the shows would be pulled if Macklemore stayed on the tour. He defended his comments and his performance of “Hind’s Hall,” a song dedicated to a five-year-old girl killed in Gaza, saying “wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.”
Sheeran, in a multi-page Instagram statement, said he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and had spent the week trying to build bridges. He placed the decision with the promoter and the venues rather than himself, writing: “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.”
Kraft, whose wealth Forbes estimates at more than $13bn, said he was happy to sit down with Macklemore and talk in person.