Macklemore booted from Ed Sheeran tour over pro-Palestine remarks [UPDATED]

[Update 12:05 pm]: Macklemore addressed the news with a lengthy statement on Instagram. “I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim,” the rapper writes toward the beginning of the post. “The victims are the Palestinian people.” Macklemore goes on to say that while he considers Sheeran a friend, the two have a “fundamental disagreement” about the issue of Israel-Palestine and their responsibility in speaking on it. 

In the post, Macklemore writes that Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and the CEO of the Kraft Group, which owns Gillette Stadium, informed Sheeran last Monday that he would not allow Macklemore to perform at the stadium and that he had rallied other stadium owners to do the same thing. The rapper says that Sheeran ultimately made the decision to not take a political stance, which in this case apparently meant siding with the wealthy stadium owners. “I didn’t need 10 shows from Ed. I needed 2. Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say. Free Palestine,” the post concludes. “But if those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.” 

Original story: A week and change after calling out “Free Palestine!” on the stage at MetLife Stadium, Macklemore’s time as the opening act for Ed Sheeran’s tour has come to an end, Rolling Stone reports this morning. The outlet received a statement from the Messina Touring Group, which promotes the U.S. leg of the tour, saying that “we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.” The statement continues, “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.” Stadiums in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Tampa, Foxborough, Massachusetts, and Arlington, Texas were reportedly among the venues to object to the rapper’s continued involvement. 

Macklemore’s comments were fairly straightforward (and can be read in full here). “To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters: Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you,” the “Thrift Shop” rapper said at one point. “My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality.” Still, that message was met with significant backlash. A few days after the performance, the Israeli-American Council called for Macklemore to be dropped from the concert, offended that someone would use their position on a huge stage to advocate for the end of what the United Nations has determined to be a genocide. (“This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” reads the petition, in part.) Macklemore hasn’t yet publicly offered a statement on the latest development, but his most recent social media post remains the speech at MetLife, along with the caption: “Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.”