Rapper Dropped From Ed Sheeran Tour Over Antisemitic Remarks

Rapper Macklemore has been removed from the remaining dates of Ed Sheeran's "Mathematics Tour" in the United States, production company Messina Touring Group announced. The decision came after stadiums informed the company they would not permit Macklemore to perform, a move that threatened the cancellation of the entire tour and would have impacted hundreds of thousands of fans.

The removal follows a public petition launched on September 7 by the Israeli-American Council (IAC). The IAC's action was prompted by Macklemore's performance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on September 7, where he addressed over 80,000 attendees. During his opening set, Macklemore delivered an anti-Israel speech, chanted Palestinian slogans, and performed an antisemitic song against a backdrop of images from Gaza. He stated his intention to use the tour dates to say "Free Palestine" in stadiums.

The IAC-led petition garnered tens of thousands of signatures and millions of social media impressions. Messina Touring Group stated, "As the production company for Ed Sheeran's US Mathematics Tour, we were notified by stadiums on upcoming tour dates that they would not permit a performance with Macklemore on the lineup, which would have led to the cancellation of the tour and impacted hundreds of thousands of fans. Following discussions with relevant parties, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates."

The IAC responded, "The Israeli-American community has proven that when united, its voice is heard. Freedom of speech is not freedom from responsibility. Those who choose to turn a performance for 80,000 people into a tool to promote a one-sided political agenda must stand behind that choice." The organization emphasized that presenting the war in a one-sided manner, while omitting the October 7 massacre by Hamas terrorists that killed approximately 1,200 people, crosses the line between political criticism and antisemitism.