Rapper Macklemore Claims He Was Dropped From Tour Merely for Saying 'Free Palestine,' Old Pictures Prove Why That's a Lie
By now, you’ve heard that Ed Sheeran is getting canceled because he decided to cancel Macklemore as the opening act on his tour — and that the reason why is simply that Macklemore is pro-Palestinian.
There are calls now to boycott Sheeran, something I’ve been doing since the first and last time I heard an Ed Sheeran song. But then, Macklemore’s even worse, and people still pay a goodly amount of money to have their ears assaulted by two annoying white guys who became relevant well over a decade ago. One has stayed relevant, and one has gotten relevant again because he says he got thrown off Ed Sheeran’s tour for being pro-Palestinian.
“I didn’t need 10 shows from Ed. I needed 2,” Macklemore wrote on social media, according to The Washington Post. “Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say. Free Palestine.”
Wow. So brave. No musical artist ever has said that, except for all of the ones who have.
Macklemore claimed that this was all the result of Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Sheeran is blaming this on venues and promoters, and Kraft said this was based in part on Macklemore’s “recent actions,” ABC News reported.
Robert Kraft, head of the Kraft Group, owner of the New England Patriots, and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, has issued a statement surrounding the recent controversy over the dropping of Macklemore from Ed Sheeran’s tour.
Read more: https://t.co/O0UaBIgOQA pic.twitter.com/gGqk7jmvJT
— ABC News (@ABC) September 17, 2026
Entertainment outlets have been playing up the backlash to this as massive. Variety noted that a host of other celebrities were backing Macklemore — which is the first time he’s heard that this decade, I can imagine. This includes Ms. Rachel, the YouTube kids’ show host.
Well, now that settles it: With her and Macklemore on the same team, you have two of the individuals whose voices make me want to rip my eardrums out the most, so clearly Ed Sheeran must be in the right here.
Ed Sheeran Backlash Explodes as Ms. Rachel, Hannah Einbinder and More Slam Singer After Macklemore Dropped From Tour: ‘Silence During a Genocide Is Not Neutral’ https://t.co/BDhzXehaPO
— Variety (@Variety) September 16, 2026
But, let’s back up a second: Is this really just because Robert Kraft got angry that Macklemore is saying “Free Palestine,” like literally every celebrity will do if asked?
As you might have noted from Kraft’s remarks, the actions on stage were only “in part” responsible for the decision. See, Macklemore might have other reasons for being on one side or the other in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Like, oh, say, this costume that he once donned:
But was he wearing this again when he said it? How anyone think this ignoramus has any credibility after this just proves bigotry is more important than facts. pic.twitter.com/sC66FSS5Yl
— Alt-Middle (@MiddleAlt38607) September 14, 2026
“All he did was say ‘free Palestine’.” pic.twitter.com/pXFOvbcYcN
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) September 15, 2026
Yeah, here’s the part that got diminished from Kraft’s statement: “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,” he said. [Emphasis ours.]
“This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf. Their pain and loss are real,” he added. “I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same — peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate.”
And yes, Macklemore apologized for the Jewish caricature costume while insisting it wasn’t a Jewish caricature costume back in 2014, after he wore it in concert in Seattle.
“I acknowledge how the costume could, within a context of stereotyping, be ascribed to a Jewish caricature,” he said, according to the BBC. “I am here to say that it was absolutely not my intention and unfortunately at the time I did not foresee the costume to be viewed in such regard.”
And since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks, he’s been thoroughly in Hamas’ corner, saying that Israel’s response is “genocide” and “apartheid.” He’s also released a track which praised the anti-Semitic Columbia University encampments and released a video for an anti-Israel song called “F***ed Up” that included a $100 U.S. bill interwoven with the Israeli flag, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.
This guy, in short, has basically hit every anti-Semitic trope on the pinball table, gotten support from every reliably air-quotes “anti-Zionist” that veers dangerously close to anti-Semitism themselves, and drapes himself as a simple man bringing a simple message of “Free Palestine.”
Forget about that hook-nosed costume, which could possibly, “within a context of stereotyping,” look bad. He totally loves Jewish people, so long as he can trash the one Jewish country in the world as an “apartheid” state committing “genocide,” falsely, and allow him to spread these lies on whatever stage he wants given his history.
If you don’t, of course, you’re silencing free speech and killing kids in Gaza with your silence. Whatever.
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