Rapper Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Loop Tour’ Philadelphia stop

Ed Sheeran is bringing his “Loop Tour” to Lincoln Financial Field on Friday, but without the announced opener rapper Macklemore.

The Grammy-winning rapper, who joined the Loop Tour earlier this month, was slated to join Sheeran on eight of his last 10 shows on the U.S. leg of his tour, which kicked off in Glendale, Ariz., in June. According to the music publication Rolling Stone, he will no longer join Sheeran for his remaining tour dates. The reason, it reported, were pro-Palestine statements made by Macklemore in two shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., earlier this month.

On Sept. 4, Macklemore performed his 2024 protest song, “Hind’s Hall,” about pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University and chanted “Free Palestine” while a screen behind him showed footage from the war in Gaza.

Messina Touring Group, the promotional team behind the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s tour, told Rolling Stone said the organization was notified that several venues “will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.” That list of venues includes Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, and the South Philadelphia venue.

Not removing Macklemore from the tour lineup, Messina representatives said, would “result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.” And after further discussion with “stakeholders,” the group chose to relieve Macklemore of his duties as Sheeran’s opener.

Lincoln Financial Field representatives did not respond to requests for comment from The Inquirer at the time of publishing.

“What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years,” Macklemore wrote in a social media post on Monday. “So why is it an issue now? Because now I’m sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America.”

The rapper claimed that he was dropped from the tour after Sheeran, who he called a friend, received a call from Robert Kraft, the owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium.

“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 pay in our venues,” the post reads.

“I agree with Macklemore,” Kraft said in a statement obtained by USA TODAY Sports, in which he acknowledge his decision that Macklemore’s “participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.”

Kraft also wrote: “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.”

Macklemore’s shows at MetLife spurred backlash from pro-Israel groups like StopAntisemitism. In a social media post following the shows, the group accused Macklemore of spreading “anti‑Israel propaganda," which was amplified by Bucks County-bred pop star Pink.

“A repost isn’t a statement,” Pink clarified in an Instagram post later, adding that she didn’t object to Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” chants, and said that she believes that “Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations.”

“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,” she said. “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?” she wrote. She also pointed to her “decade as a UNICEF ambassador” during which she worked for ”kids who didn’t choose the country or the war they were born into."

The Israeli American Council also launched a petition, demanding that he be removed from the tour.

Sheeran has yet to address Macklemore’s statements.

“Taking a side can cost you. Money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access. I’ve lost all of those things,” Macklemore wrote in his social media post. He contended that he and Sheeran will remain friends, and that one “painful disagreement” won’t hinder 13 years of friendship.

Sheeran’s tour will reportedly continue as planned. The North American leg of the Loop Tour wraps up at Raymond James Stadium on Nov. 7. A South American leg of the tour will follow in November and December.