Ed Sheeran spoke out about Macklemore being dropped from his tour after the rapper yelled “Free Palestine” onstage at a recent show.
The “Shape of You” singer began his Instagram message on Tuesday by noting he’s “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine,” before explaining that he agreed to let Macklemore, 43, join his The Loop tour and play his own setlist.
But because of “how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance” at two of their New Jersey concerts, Sheeran, 35, learned from venues that future shows would be pulled if Macklemore wasn’t dropped.
“I spoke with the venues at length all week to try and build a bridge,” Sheeran shared, revealing he also talked to Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and the Kraft Group, which operates Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Sheeran said in those conversations, he tried to “find a mutual resolution for all, but the venue’s and promoter’s decision was final.”
“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,” Sheeran wrote. “Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me. I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living.”
The “Thinking Out Loud” singer clarified that he’s “not complicit” in the “devastating conflict” in the Middle East, and explained that he’s usually quiet about politics because his audience mostly includes young people “of all backgrounds.”
“Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum,” he said. “I respect Macklemore’s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes. However, there is room for multiple approaches to the same end: peace.”
At the end of his message, Sheeran said that he’s spent the last week “trying to build bridges, to find a solution,” but “unfortunately, [he] was unable to do so.”
“I know who I am, both as a person and as an artist, and those who know my heart know my values too,” he concluded.
Sheeran captioned his post, “It’s important that I set out some facts.” He turned the comments off.
During two shows at NJ’s MetLife Stadium earlier this month, Macklemore yelled, “Free Palestine,” and displayed images of devastation in Gaza and performed his protest song, “Hind’s Hall.”
In response, multiple stadiums — including Gillette Stadium — banned Macklemore from taking the stage on Sheeran’s tour.
Kraft, 85, said in a statement to Page Six, “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,”
Macklemore spoke out on Instagram Monday, telling his fans that Sheeran and his team “made the decision” to remove him from the tour, which caused the two singers to have a “painful disagreement.”
“Ed was in a f–ked up position. He knew it,” Mackelmore wrote. “His typical apolitical stance was being challenge in a way it had never been before.”
Macklemore claimed Sheeran told him the words “Free Palestine” and the image of the Palestinian flag “were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with,” but Macklemore said that when he disagreed with that take, Sheeran didn’t budge because he “doesn’t take sides.”
However, Macklemore noted that despite their differences, he hopes the pair’s 13-year friendship isn’t over.
“I hope we both continue listening, studying what is happening in Palestine and wrestling with what neutrality means in a moment like this,” he said. “My door will always be open to continuing that conversation.”
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