Macklemore Blames Billionaire Robert Kraft For Getting Him Booted From Ed Sheeran Tour

Macklemore says Ed Sheeran removed him from the Loop Tour, making his Palestinian advocacy an immediate career cost after mounting pressure.

The Seattle rapper confirmed the decision in an Instagram statement Monday, September 14, after opening two stadium dates earlier this month.

“I’m not sure how to start this. So I’m going to speak from the heart and share the truth. Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.”

He immediately rejected any effort to cast wealthy performers as the people most harmed by the dispute.

“I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world.”

He said Palestinian civilians were the true victims and tied the tour loss directly to his wider case against the war.

“The victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that.”

Messina Touring Group gave a business explanation, telling Rolling Stone that some venues refused concerts featuring Macklemore.

The promoter said his place on the bill threatened the remaining shows and could affect hundreds of thousands of ticket holders. After talks with unnamed stakeholders, Messina confirmed Macklemore would miss his remaining eight scheduled support appearances.

Sheeran’s official calendar now names Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe as support for the next stadium date in Philadelphia on September 19.

Macklemore offered a more personal account and stressed that the dispute had not erased a friendship built across 13 years.

“Ed is my friend. I’ve known him for 13 years. We’ve shared late nights, studio sessions and stages. I consider him a brother.”

He said their private conversations remained respectful, even though they ended with a basic disagreement about neutrality and responsibility.

“And because of that, we’ve had some difficult conversations this past week. The type of talks rooted in love and respect for one another that still end in a place of fundamental disagreement.”

His statement then accused New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft of directly pressuring Sheeran during a telephone call last Monday.

“Last Monday, in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said at MetLife, Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him. We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft Group.

“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. 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.”

Neither Kraft, Sheeran, nor the Kraft Group had publicly answered that specific allegation by the time Macklemore released his statement.

Kraft owns Gillette Stadium, where Macklemore was scheduled to support Sheeran on September 25 and September 26.

That venue connection gives Macklemore’s claim context, but it does not independently prove Kraft organized pressure from other stadium owners.

Macklemore said the disagreement tested Sheeran’s long-standing reluctance to publicly choose sides in political conflicts.

“Ed was in a fucked up position. He knew it. His typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before.”

Macklemore said the split hardened when Sheeran relayed objections to the Palestinian phrase and flag.

“He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with. But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides.'”

He framed the cancellation as another financial consequence of refusing neutrality, alongside lost sponsorships, festivals, private bookings, relationships and access.

“Taking a side can cost you. Money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access. I’ve lost all of those things. But there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.”

His Palestinian advocacy had been public for nearly three years before it collided with Sheeran’s American stadium tour.

On October 19, 2023, Macklemore condemned Hamas’ October 7 attacks while calling Israel’s response an unfolding genocide and humanitarian catastrophe.

During a Washington rally that November, he acknowledged limited expertise but said he knew enough to describe Israel’s campaign as genocide.

He later joined Artists4Ceasefire, whose letter sought humanitarian aid, hostage releases and an immediate permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

In May 2024, Macklemore released Hind’s Hall as student encampments pressured universities to divest from companies connected with Israel.

The title honored Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed with relatives after their car came under Israeli military fire.

Macklemore pledged the track’s streaming proceeds to UNRWA, the United Nations agency serving Palestinian refugees.

He returned that September with Hind’s Hall 2, featuring Palestinian artists and choirs, and again promised revenue to UNRWA.

Days later, Macklemore echoed a profane anti-America chant during Seattle’s Palestine Will Live Forever benefit and later called his words a slip-up.

Neon City Festival removed him from its Las Vegas lineup, while the Seattle Kraken and Sounders reconsidered their business ties.

Nearly two years later, the dispute returned during Sheeran’s September 4 and September 5 shows at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Macklemore wore a keffiyeh, performed Hind’s Hall against Gaza footage and told more than 80,000 concertgoers to say “Free Palestine.”

He also criticized the Israeli government, called United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement a terrorist organization and urged solidarity with several nations.

AllHipHop previously reported that the Israeli-American Council responded with a petition demanding Sheeran remove Macklemore from the remaining dates.

The Anti-Defamation League condemned the performance, while StopAntisemitism accused Macklemore of forcing anti-Israel propaganda upon an unsuspecting concert audience.

Pink amplified that criticism, then clarified that she supported Palestinian rights but felt frightened by Macklemore’s presentation as a Jewish mother.

Macklemore returned for Sheeran’s second MetLife show and said opposing Israeli policies or Zionism should not be conflated with hatred of Jewish people.

He later argued that stadium-level reach made his familiar message threatening to powerful gatekeepers and potentially influential among fellow performers.

“What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years. 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. At a certain level of exposure, ‘Free Palestine’ becomes too much of a risk.”

He said the same platform could encourage more performers to speak and turn a concert into organized resistance.

“The stage becomes resistance. Maybe that’s why this time it became so important to silence me.”

He described accusations of antisemitism as a weapon against Israeli government criticism while insisting that antisemitism itself remains real.

“Antisemitism is real. And that is exactly why the word matters too much to be used as a shield against criticism of the Israeli state. When criticizing Israel, opposing Zionism or saying ‘Free Palestine’ gets conflated with hatred of Jewish people, it doesn’t protect Jewish people. It protects Israel from accountability.”

Macklemore closed by leaving room for reconciliation with Sheeran, even as he refused to soften his political position.

“I hope this isn’t the end of my relationship with Ed. Thirteen years of friendship doesn’t disappear because of one painful disagreement. I hope we both continue listening, studying what is happening in Palestine and wrestling with what neutrality means in a moment like this. My door will always be open to continuing that conversation.”

His final reflection turned to Omar, who created subtitles for the MetLife video and taught him an Arabic answer to gratitude.

“When my brother Omar was doing the subtitles for the video I posted from MetLife, I thanked him. He told me there’s a phrase in Arabic: لا شكر على واجب. ‘La shukra ala wajeb.’ There is no thanks for a duty. That stayed with me.”

He reduced that idea to four closing fragments, preserving the blunt rhythm of Omar’s lesson.

“A duty. Not something deserving of praise or gratitude. Not brave. Human.”