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Rapper and musician Macklemore has been removed from Ed Sheeran’s ‘The Loop’ tour after making comments on stage regarding Palestine. He took to Instagram to explain and defend his position, arguing that ‘there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.’
Macklemore has reportedly been dropped from Ed Sheeran’s ‘The Loop’ tour following his comments on Palestine during a recent performance.
He had been the opening act for the tour until this week.
On 4 September, the rapper told the audience at a show at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey: ‘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.’
He then went on to play ‘Hind’s Hall,’ a track that heavily criticises Israel’s military action in Gaza. Footage from the area was shown during Macklemore’s performance, which was later criticised by the campaign group StopAntisemitism.
The Israeli military launched a campaign in response to a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in late 2023. 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to the BBC. The current campaign in Gaza has killed more than 73,780 people, as reported by the territory’s health ministry.
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Now, in a new Instagram post, Macklemore says that he was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour.
‘Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me,’ he wrote. ‘I am not a victim […] there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.’ You can read the full statement below.
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Robert Kraft, the owner of Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, had reportedly banned Macklemore from performing with Ed Sheeran.
‘I agree with Macklemore,’ Kraft said. ‘Too many lives have been lost, and there has been too much suffering, but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate.’
