Macklemore, Ed Sheeran and Robert Kraft: How 'Free Palestine' Upended a Stadium Tour

Macklemore told a stadium crowd in New Jersey that he had joined Ed Sheeran's tour to say two words. Five weeks later, those words have cost him the rest of the tour, emptied Sheeran's opening bill, drawn two statements from the owner of the New England Patriots and turned up on Zach Bryan's T-shirt at that owner's stadium.

It has become one of the season's most-covered music stories, and almost every step of it has been contested. Here is what happened, in order, and what each party has said in their own words.

What happened at MetLife Stadium?

Macklemore's first two dates as an opener on the U.S. leg of Sheeran's Loop Tour were at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sept. 4 and 5. On the first night, he explained why he'd signed on, Rolling Stone reported.

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.’

Macklemore, at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 4, Rolling Stone

The screens showed footage of destruction in Gaza while he performed “Hind's Hall,” his 2024 protest song inspired by the student protests at Columbia University. Its title refers to protesters renaming the campus's Hamilton Hall for Hind Rajab, a young Palestinian girl killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, Front Office Sports explained. On the second night, he spoke to Jewish fans in the audience: “Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you.” (As Rolling Stone noted, humanitarian groups and a United Nations commission have said Israel's actions in Gaza constitute genocide; Israel and its allies, including the United States, have denied it.)

The backlash came quickly. The advocacy group StopAntisemitism accused him of ambushing fans with “anti-Israel propaganda” in an Instagram post that Pink amplified, and the Israeli-American Council launched a petition asking Sheeran to drop him. The petition said his sets raised questions over “where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.” Pink later clarified her own position.

I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund. What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘that scared me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I’m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed?

Pink, Rolling Stone

Who removed Macklemore from the tour?

On Sept. 14, Messina Touring Group, the promoter of the tour's U.S. leg, told Rolling Stone that venues on the remaining dates had said they wouldn't allow a concert to go ahead with Macklemore on the lineup, which it said would have meant canceling the tour. “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates,” the promoter said. He had been due to open eight of the 10 remaining U.S. shows. Rolling Stone listed seven venues that allegedly objected and noted that all but two, Gillette Stadium and Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium, are owned by cities, states or other public bodies, which could raise First Amendment questions.

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Macklemore's own statement that day pointed at Kraft.

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.

Macklemore, on Instagram, Rolling Stone

Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., confirmed he had barred Macklemore from Sheeran's Sept. 25 and 26 shows there. In a statement published in full by Front Office Sports, he cited “Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.” He added: “Much of my time and attention for the last decade has been focused on the fight against antisemitism and hate of all kinds, and I feel a responsibility to stand up when I believe that line has been crossed.”

Kraft also wrote that the decision was “not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf,” but that such advocacy “should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas.” He said he would welcome a chance to sit down with Macklemore. His statement didn't address the claim that he had rallied other stadium owners.

It didn't name examples of the “broader history,” either. WBUR pointed to a 2014 incident in which Macklemore performed in a disguise that included a fake nose, which he later apologized for, acknowledging it could be “ascribed to a Jewish caricature.” The Anti-Defamation League accepted that apology, NBC News reported, citing The Guardian. In his Sept. 14 statement, Macklemore reiterated that his criticism of Israel's government should not be “conflated” with antisemitism.

Sheeran answered on Sept. 15. “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me,” he wrote on Instagram, as quoted by The National News Desk. He said he had spent the week talking with venues to “try and build a bridge,” and that one of those people was Kraft. “I am not complicit,” he wrote, explaining that he keeps politics off his stage because “my audience includes young people, often children, of all backgrounds.”

Why did the other openers leave?

In solidarity with Macklemore. Within days, Sheeran's remaining support acts, Finneas, Aaron Rowe and Lukas Graham, withdrew from the tour, as did the Irish folk band Beoga, who had been performing with Sheeran, Billboard reported. “Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote on Instagram. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”

When the tour resumed at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field on Sept. 19, Sheeran played with no openers and began with a speech, Good Morning America reported. “I've never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” he said. He described the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel's Nova music festival as “horrific” and called what is happening in Gaza “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.” Of the past week's decisions, he said, “I am making mistakes and I'm so, so sorry.”

Where did the money go?

On Sept. 16, Macklemore pledged the $1 million he had earned from the tour to Palestinian aid organizations and challenged Kraft to match it. “Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting,” he wrote, per TheWrap. The same day, Gillette Stadium posted a statement from Kraft.

In it, Kraft wrote that earlier that day, before Macklemore's challenge, Sheeran had called and “asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis,” and that Sheeran planned to reach out to other venue owners. The statement didn't name the organizations involved.

How did it spread beyond the Loop Tour?

Macklemore turned the fallout into a tour of his own. Announcing three Free Palestine Tour benefit shows, with all proceeds going to organizations supporting Palestinians, he wrote: “It’s 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn’t work anymore,” according to the full text published by The FADER. By Sept. 30, he said all three dates had “sold out immediately.” “I’m honestly blown away,” he wrote, per Rolling Stone. He said lineups were “coming soon,” with U.S. dates to follow.

Sheeran's own Gillette shows never happened: the Sept. 25 and 26 concerts were canceled because of severe weather warnings, according to Gillette Stadium, with a nor'easter forecast for New England. Then, on Oct. 2, Zach Bryan played the first of two nights at Gillette wearing a black T-shirt that read “Free Palestine,” with members of his band in matching shirts, according to TMZ via Billboard. He didn't appear to address it from the stage.

Lorde went further. In an Oct. 5 Instagram Story, she showed off the jacket she had worn at Austin City Limits two days earlier, hand-decorated with “FREE PALESTINE!!!!!!” along the hem, and typed “@mr.robertkraft” over the photo. Billboard noted that the tag appears to point to a fan page rather than a verified Kraft account. Billboard asked Kraft's camp for comment on both episodes; in the Bryan story, it noted he had yet to publicly respond.

Others weighed in from every direction. Greta Thunberg, Massive Attack, Roger Waters and Hayley Williams were among those who voiced support for Macklemore, and Tom Morello told NME that “courage is contagious.” Bob Geldof defended Sheeran while saying he admired Macklemore, and CMAT called some of the backlash toward Sheeran “unfair” while saying he could have handled it differently, NME reported.

What happens next?

The Loop Tour rolls on with new openers. Isaac Slade, the former singer of The Fray, opened Sheeran's Oct. 3 show in Atlanta and is booked for Indianapolis on Oct. 10, Charlotte on Oct. 17, Arlington on Oct. 24 and the U.S. finale in Tampa on Nov. 7, per NME. American Idol contestant Brooks Rosser was booked for the Indianapolis bill too. Sheeran then heads to Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, with no support acts announced yet.

Macklemore's Free Palestine Tour opens in Dublin on Oct. 26, with Paris on Oct. 29 and London on Oct. 30. Sheeran's U.S. leg ends on Nov. 7 at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium, one of the venues Rolling Stone reported had objected to Macklemore's appearance.