Macklemore has been dropped from Ed Sheeran‘s Loop Tour as the rapper drew major headlines for his pro-Palestine speeches during his opening performances on the trek, with Sheeran’s promoter stating Monday that venues set to host the tour threatened to pull out if Macklemore was on the bill.
“As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, 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,” Messina Touring Group, Sheeran’s longtime concert promoter, said in a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter. “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”
Reps for Sheeran and Macklemore didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
The news was first reported by Rolling Stone.
The move comes over a week after Macklemore, who’s long supported the Free Palestine cause, garnered significant backlash from pro-Israel groups after giving pro-Palestine speeches during performances at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 4 and 5.
“A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine,” he told the crowd during his first performance. “I said, ‘Free Palestine!’ I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.”
The Israeli-American Council launched a petition calling to remove him from the tour. The rapper doubled down, addressing Jewish members of the crowd during his next show to clarify that “criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you. My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality.”
He also shared a post on social media last Monday writing that “wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.”
In its statement, Messina Touring Group didn’t specify which venues objected to Macklemore’s spot on the bill, or if it was all of them. He was slated to perform at all of Sheeran’s upcoming North American stadium dates except for the Miami shows on Oct. 29 and 30. Per Rolling Stone, the venues that objected included Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, Foxbourough’s Gillette Stadium, Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Indianapolis’s Lucas Oil Stadium, Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, Arlington’s AT&T Stadium and Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
Messina’s statement didn’t specify why the venues pushed back on Macklemore’s performance, though as Rolling Stone noted, a removal from the publicly owned and operated venues (which include all but Gillette Stadium and Bank of America Stadium) due to his previous statements could raise issues a of first amendment rights.
Aside from the groups, others who’d voiced out against Macklemore’s actions included Pink, who reposted a call to remove Macklemore from the tour, drawing significant backlash of her own. Days later, she posted a lengthy statement clarifying her views, stating that she was “standing up for my own people, and I thought I knew going in how lonely that would be. And it’s lonelier than that.”