Macklemore opened for Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour at MetLife Stadium on Friday, September 4, and Saturday, September 5. He wore a keffiyeh, said "Free Palestine," and performed his 2024 protest song "Hind's Hall" while the stadium screens showed Gaza-related imagery. He told the crowd criticism of Israel "in no way is a criticism of" Jewish people. The Israeli-American Council launched a petition Sunday demanding Sheeran's team pull Macklemore from the rest of the tour, and Boy George piled on the same day. By Monday, Pink had joined in, Macklemore had posted a defense of his own, and Sheeran still hadn't said anything.

1. Pull Him From the Tour (Israeli-American Council, Pink, Boy George, Michael Rapaport)

People paid for a Sheeran show, not a rally, and they want him gone.

People bought tickets for pop songs, not a protest speech. The Israeli-American Council's petition puts it directly: "This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event."

The IAC says the stage comes with responsibility. "Freedom of expression does not mean freedom from responsibility. Your show. Your stage. Your responsibility," the petition reads, asking where the line sits when an opening act uses "a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda."

Pink amplified a harder-edged version of the same complaint. On Monday she reshared a post from StopAntisemitism calling Macklemore's set "awful" and saying concertgoers were "owed apologies and refunds."

Boy George went after Sheeran directly for booking him. He posted, "I have never been an @Edsheeran fan and nothing has changed," alongside a mocked-up image of the singer.

Michael Rapaport tore into the booking in blunt terms. He called Macklemore "an absolute no talent none singer non rapping non dancing clown" and wrote, "So Ed Sheeran is ok with this p--- stain opening up for him? Sweet Ed Sheeran?"

2. This Is What the Platform Is For (Macklemore, Glenn Greenwald, Craig Mokhiber, Rob Markman, Kneecap)

Speaking up isn't the violation — trying to silence it is.

Macklemore says the message was never about Jewish people. Onstage he told the crowd, "criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you," and framed his ask as "peace" and equal dignity for "all human beings." On Monday he posted the clip with the caption "Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial."

Journalist Glenn Greenwald says the backlash is the real free-speech problem. "The greatest threat to free speech in the West, by far, is Israel and its western loyalists attempting to use all weapons to criminalize, banish and punish criticisms of Israel by pretending that it's anti-Semitic," he wrote.

Human rights advocate Craig Mokhiber held Macklemore up as a model. "In an age dominated by the criminal, the complicit, and the cowardly, be a Macklemore," he posted.

Music journalist Rob Markman framed it as a matter of historical record. He called it "Macklemore on the right side of history."

Kneecap has heard this accusation before. "To the Zionist lobby if you call out genocide you're labelled a terrorist — meanwhile they're the ones cheering on a genocide and war crimes. Freedom for all oppressed people," they wrote.

Where This Lands

The Israeli-American Council wants Macklemore off the tour. It says a concert stage isn't the place for a one-sided political message, and Pink, Boy George, and Michael Rapaport backed some version of that complaint this week. Macklemore and supporters like Glenn Greenwald and Kneecap say the message was about equal dignity for civilians, not an attack on Jewish people, and that trying to pull him off the bill is its own form of censorship. It's technically Ed Sheeran's tour, but he hasn't said anything publicly, and Macklemore is still on the schedule for the tour's remaining dates.

Sources