Artists back Macklemore in ‘Free Palestine’ pileup

All four acts scheduled to perform during the remaining dates of Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour have withdrawn from the concert series following rapper Macklemore’s removal after his anti-Israel rant in front of 80,000 people at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, on Sept. 4.

Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham and Beoga announced their departures in separate statements on Tuesday. Beoga had been serving as Sheeran’s touring band, while the other acts were scheduled for opening performances.

“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother and a frequent musical collaborator, said in an Instagram statement. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”

Rowe said he did not “take the decision lightly” and thanked Sheeran for the opportunity to perform, but said he could not respect himself if he played the remaining dates.

The Irish performers Rowe and Beoga cited their country’s history in explaining their decisions. Rowe said the Irish people “know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation.”

Beoga criticized what it described as the “silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies” in a statement announcing its departure.

Lukas Graham said, “[t]his is a difficult decision, but it’s one I need to stand by.”

Wearing a keffiyeh at MetLife, Macklemore said, “I wanted to stand up here on stages across America and say two words that are near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine.”

Sheeran said Tuesday that he did not want to use his “professional platform for politics” and attributed Macklemore’s removal to the tour’s promoters. Sheeran and Messina Touring Group, identified in the reports as the tour promoter, had not immediately responded to requests for comment.

Macklemore wrote on social media on Monday that Robert Kraft, a prominent Jewish philanthropist whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass, had called Sheeran following the MetLife performances. Sheeran had been scheduled to perform there with Macklemore later in the tour.

“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” Macklemore wrote, adding that “Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively” gave Sheeran an ultimatum.

Kraft, who also founded the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, responded in a statement to TMZ on Monday, saying that he would “welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts.”

“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,” he told TMZ.

“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 Sept. 25 and 26 concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.”

Kraft stated that he did not intend to diminish “the suffering of innocent Palestinians” or deny “anyone the right to advocate on their behalf.”

“But that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas, a United States and globally — including Canada, European Union, United Kingdom and Japan — designated terrorist organization whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering for Palestinians and Israelis alike,” he said.

“Only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate,” Kraft added.

“Standing with the Palestinian people and standing against Hamas, antisemitism and hate should not be mutually exclusive,” he stated. “Much of my time and attention for the last decade has been focused on the fight against antisemitism and hate of all kinds, and I feel a responsibility to stand up when I believe that line has been crossed.”

Other venues that reportedly objected included Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, according to Rolling Stone.

The Israeli-American Council launched a petition following the concert calling on Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the tour.

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

—Rikki Zagelbaum of JNS and other sources