Ed Sheeran pressured to remove Macklemore from tour over 'Free Palestine' comments

The controversy also drew a response from P!nk, who reshared a post criticising Macklemore and calling for an apology

The Israeli-American Council (IAC) has urged Ed Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the remaining dates of his US tour following the rapper’s pro-Palestinian remarks at concerts in New Jersey.

According to reports, Macklemore performed as Sheeran’s opening act at MetLife Stadium on September 4 and 5, where he said “Free Palestine” and performed his 2024 protest song “Hind’s Hall”.

The IAC subsequently launched a petition calling on Sheeran and his management to remove Macklemore from the tour.

The organisation said he had used a “global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda”.

“This was an Ed Sheeran concert — not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” the petition stated.

Macklemore defended his decision during Friday’s performance, saying, “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 opened for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium wearing a keffiyeh, performed "Hind's Hall" with Gaza footage on the screens, and told 80,000 people he wanted those in Gaza and the West Bank to know "they have not been forgotten."

He said every human being deserves "the… pic.twitter.com/4J7fB1zEI4

— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 6, 2026

The controversy also drew a response from singer P!nk, who reshared a post from StopAntisemitism criticising Macklemore’s remarks and calling for an apology.

The post accused the rapper of using the concert to promote what it described as “anti-Israel propaganda”.

P!nk reshared pro-Israel group’s post demanding Macklemore apologize for his “Free Palestine” message and denying that Israel is committing genocide. pic.twitter.com/0707MvM5Dn

— Buzzing Pop (@BuzzingPop) September 7, 2026

Macklemore is scheduled to support Sheeran for eight more US dates through November.

 The IAC has also asked Sheeran’s team to clarify whether the political speech, visuals and performance were approved in advance.