Macklemore controversy moved from the stage to the stadium schedule after Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour removed him from the remaining support dates. The change hit eight of the 10 shows left on the run, and it came before the tour was set to resume in Philadelphia on Friday, Sept. 19.
Messina Touring Group said venues on the upcoming U.S. dates would not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, a dispute it said could have cancelled the tour and affected hundreds of thousands of fans. That makes this more than a lineup tweak: the tour’s remaining route was suddenly tied to whether the supporting act could stay on stage.
Sept. 4 and Sept. 5 at MetLife Stadium
Macklemore performed two shows at MetLife Stadium outside New York City on Sept. 4 and Sept. 5, and the first night is the one that now sits at the center of the booking fight. During that show, he yelled “Free Palestine” onstage and expressed solidarity with people in Gaza and the West Bank.
He also said, “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,’” then showed images from the devastation in Gaza and performed “Hind’s Hall.” Those choices gave the tour a political flashpoint inside venues built to sell out by the tens of thousands.
Gillette Stadium and the other venues
The venues that objected included Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. In practical terms, that meant the promoter had to choose between keeping Macklemore on the bill and preserving the remaining shows.
Messina Touring Group said it had been notified by those venues that they would not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup. The statement also said the decision followed discussions with stakeholders, which is the kind of backroom pressure point that can turn one artist dispute into a routing problem for an entire stadium tour.
Robert Kraft and Ed Sheeran
Macklemore said on Instagram that Ed Sheeran told him Robert Kraft said he would not be allowed to perform in his stadium, and that Kraft had rallied other stadium owners into an ultimatum. Kraft said he made the decision to bar Macklemore from performing at Gillette because of 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 he said was deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.
For readers holding tickets, the immediate takeaway is simple: the support act was removed, and the tour moved forward without him rather than risk losing the remaining dates. The unresolved part is narrower and sharper now — which specific onstage material and venue discussions led each stadium owner to oppose Macklemore’s performances?
