Macklemore says he’s been kicked off Ed Sheeran’s tour because Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots, took issue with his comments about the Palestinian territories.
Macklemore had made the comments onstage while opening for Sheeran at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium earlier this month. The singer Pink then reshared criticism of Macklemore, sparking a torrent of backlash for herself.
In a lengthy statement shared on Instagram Monday, Macklemore said Kraft called Sheeran amid the firestorm.
“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” Macklemore said, referring to Kraft’s Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. “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.”
In a statement reported by other outlets, Kraft confirmed the stadium opposed his appearing at Sheeran’s upcoming shows.
“Gillette Stadium has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech,” the statement said, according to local outlet WHDH. “Based on 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, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.”
Messina Touring Group, the tour promoter, said in a statement to Rolling Stone earlier on Monday that Macklemore would not perform on the remainder of Sheeran’s tour after several venues said they wouldn’t allow him to appear.
In a Tuesday post to Instagram, Sheeran wrote that he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and confirmed that he had talked to Kraft, other venues, promoters, and activists in an effort to find a mutual resolution, but that the venue’s and promoters’ decision “was final.”
“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,” he added. “Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.”
“I have spent this week trying to build bridges, to find a solution and unfortunately, was unable to do so,” he said.
Sheeran’s tour band Beoga and the other opening acts — Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe — all announced Tuesday they were dropping out of the tour, citing the situation with Macklemore.
“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote in a statement.
Update, September 15, 2026 — This post has been updated to include Sheeran’s Tuesday statement and the news that Sheeran’s band and other opening acts had dropped out of the tour.
