You could say one concert tour currently making its way across the United States is now "Mackle-less." And that's because "rapper" Macklemore (real name: Benjamin Haggerty) has been yanked off of mega-star Ed Sheeran's sold-out tour for subjecting audiences to anti-Israel political rants, graphic images from Gaza, and chants of “Free Palestine” during his opening sets – all while wrapped in a keffiyeh.
RedState's Brad Essex revealed all the ugly details last week, writing:
Wearing a keffiyeh, he told the crowd of more than 80,000 that he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten. He led chants of “Free Palestine,” performed his song “Hind’s Hall,” and put Gaza footage and political images on the big screens. He tied the message to his own daughter and then expanded it to free America, Cuba, the Congo, Sudan, Iran, and people living in fear of ICE.
This led to backlash from Sheeran's fans, who certainly hadn't paid good money to hear a political rant from the opening act, and prompted the Israeli-American Council to launch a petition asking both Sheeran and the tour organizers to remove Macklemore from the remaining U.S. dates.
And it sounds like they listened.
On Monday, Messina Touring Group, promoters of the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, told Rolling Stone magazine, “We have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans."
“After discussions with stakeholders," they added, "Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates."
Macklemore yanked off Ed Sheeran's tour after anti-Israel rants anger venues https://t.co/sS9hjNwS6P pic.twitter.com/hqpD4icZuI
— New York Post (@nypost) September 14, 2026
(Sheeran himself has not publicly commented on the furor, and it's unclear if the singer had anything to do with Macklemore's removal from the remaining U.S. dates.)
Macklemore had already appeared at two of the tour stops and was scheduled to be the opener at eight more, starting this Saturday. Not anymore.
The venues that objected to the rapper include: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., according to Rolling Stone.
We've been here before with this guy. Back in September 2024, RedState told you how he was booted from the inaugural Neon City Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, after he appeared at a "Palestine Will Live Forever" concert in his hometown of Seattle, Washington, and screamed "f*** America" to a cheering crowd.
Music industry professionals warn that Macklemore's increasingly unhinged radical political rants aren't good for business. Publicist Michael Levine, who has worked with dozens of Grammy-winning musicians, remarked, “Macklemore turned Ed Sheeran’s concert into a political rally. Apparently, the one thing the crowd wanted freed was the stage.”
“If Macklemore wants to open with ‘Free Palestine,’ he might try finishing with ‘Free the hostages.’ That would be a chorus worth hearing," Levine concluded.
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