Breaking Down the Ongoing Controversy and Tour Drama Between Macklemore and Ed Sheeran

Macklemore sparked controversy on September 4 during Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour stop in New Jersey when he voiced support for Palestine during his opening set performance.Pink faced backlash after resharing a social media post condemning Macklemore’s speech, prompting her to release a lengthy statement defending her position.Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour following a fan petition against his comments—and now, several opening acts have also dropped from the tour in solidarity. Here’s a timeline of what’s happened so far.If you’ve avoided scrolling through your social feeds in an attempt to lower your screen time, you missed a whole lotta drama between 2013’s biggest radio stars: Macklemore, Pink, and Ed Sheeran.It all started during Ed’s New Jersey stop of his Loop Tour on September 4, where the “Thrift Shop” hitmaker served as a supporting act. During his opening set, Macklemore voiced his support for human rights and specifically mentioned the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict, garnering mixed reactions from fans and other artists. Enter Pink, who reshared a social media post condemning his speech and received backlash in the aftermath.Macklemore has since been dropped from Ed’s tour in the wake of a petition over his comments, while the rest of Ed’s opening acts and his backing band all exited the tour in solidarity. Now, Ed has started breaking his silence on the entire saga during his redesigned tour. Confused? Here’s how everything unfolded, in chronological order, so you can get up to speed.September 4, 2026Macklemore gave a “Free Palestine” speech at Ed Sheeran’s concertBefore he performed his track “Hind’s Hall” and projected images from the destruction in Gaza, the artist gave a speech to the crowd in support of Palestine in its ongoing conflict with Israel. The track was inspired by the pro-Palestine students at Columbia University who protested after the death of 5-year-old Hind Rajab in February 2024.“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.’ I said, ‘Free Palestine!’ I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them,” he said.He added that he believes “every single human being that walks this earth deserves” to “know safety and peace before they know the sound of violence, to know the sound of laughter on a playground before planes and bombs, for parents to be able to say bye to their kids in the morning and not have to wonder if this is going to be the last time they kiss their child goodbye.”The Grammy winner concluded his speech, saying, “And if I let that fear I felt on the plane yesterday stop me from speaking my heart in order to keep my own comfort and the audience’s comfort, that is the day I no longer continue to be on stage. So I say ‘Free Palestine!’ I say, ‘Free America, free Cuba to the Congo to Sudan to Iran, and all the people in America who have to live in fear because of this terrorist organization ICE.’”September 6, 2026Pink reshared a post condemning Macklemore’s onstage protest“Just Give Me a Reason” singer Pink—who has no ties to Ed Sheeran’s tour or Macklemore—reshared a post from a pro-Israel group that demanded that the rapper apologize for his actions onstage.She faced backlash for the subtle social media move, although she didn’t explicitly voice her own opinion on the matter.September 7, 2026The Israeli-American Council launched a petition to have Macklemore removed from Ed’s tourAfter Macklemore’s comments went viral, the IAC launched a petition calling for him to be removed from Ed’s remaining tour dates.“This was an Ed Sheeran concert—not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” the petition reads. “The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda. This becomes even more troubling when the message relies on selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact, without context or complexity.”September 11, 2026Pink released a lengthy statement explaining her social media activityThe singer took nearly a week to address the criticism before issuing a statement on Instagram.“Of course I don’t speak for Israel, or for any government. I never have. What I said in October 2023 is still exactly what I believe: Hamas is a terrorist organization. Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations. Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child. Anybody’s child,” she wrote, in part, before speaking on her work as a UNICEF ambassador who has “grieved” every child “on both sides.”In the rest of her statement, which continued in the comments section of her post, she clarified that she reshared the post because of a 2014 performance in which Macklemore wore an antisemitic costume, which he has since apologized for.“Every Jew I know knew exactly what it was,” Pink wrote. “But he apologized, and I let it go, because that’s what we do. We let it go. Then last weekend he stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them. You don’t get to decide that for us.”“I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund,” she continued. “What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, that scared me, and it scared people I love, without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I’m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed?”September 14, 2026Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tourAccording to an exclusive report from Rolling Stone, Macklemore was officially dropped from Ed’s Loop Tour after the IAC’s petition and Pink’s viral posts.Messina Touring Group, the promoter of the tour’s U.S. leg, told Rolling Stone, “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, 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, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”Kristy Sparow//Getty ImagesSoon after, Macklemore confirmed the decision with a lengthy statement on social media, revealing that Robert Kraft reportedly issued Ed an ultimatum, saying that Macklemore needed to be dropped from the tour or else Ed would be banned from performing at Gillette Stadium, among others.September 15, 2026Ed broke his silence on the decision and the rest of his opening acts exited the tour in solidarity with MacklemoreA day later, Ed broke his silence with a statement of his own, noting in part that “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine” and that “those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum.”Soon after, Finneas—who was scheduled to open the Latin American leg of Ed’s Loop Tour—entered the conversation.“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” he wrote. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”Other opening acts that have since withdrawn from Ed’s tour in solidarity with Macklemore include Aaron Rowe, Beoga, and Lukas Graham.September 16, 2026Macklemore challenged the owner of Gillette Stadium, Robert Kraft, to match a $1 million donation to Palestinian relief effortsAfter all of Ed’s supporting acts and backing band exited his tour, Macklemore released another statement encouraging fans—and Robert Kraft—to donate to pro-Palestinian organizations after he donated $1 million of his tour earnings.“I will be donating the entire $1 million of my net earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to six organizations working directly to support the Palestinian people,” he wrote, in part. “And I invite Robert Kraft” — the billionaire who allegedly rallied other Loop Tour venue owners to get Macklemore dropped from the bill — “to match my donation.”Kraft then responded to his message with a statement of his own, which was shared on the official social media channels for Gillette Stadium. He revealed that Ed had called him with a proposal to donate $2 million to Palestinian relief efforts before Macklemore challenged him to match his.“I’ve dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people. I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting,” Kraft said in his statement. “Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis. Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.”A source separately told Page Six that Kraft allegedly wants to meet with Macklemore, though he hasn’t responded to his request. The report claims that the rapper was also banned from playing stadiums in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Dallas, and Tampa, with another insider insisting that it “wasn’t pushed by Robert. They were all thinking that and got together.”Later that same day, children’s educator and YouTube sensation, Ms. Rachel, pledged to match Macklemore’s $1 million donation and invited every “wealthy white celebrity” to do the same.September 17, 2026Ed’s cousin drops a bombshell allegation that he’s “malicious”In the thick of the madness, Ed’s cousin, Jethro Sheeran, dropped a bombshell statement claiming that he’s “a bad human.”Jethro, who is a musician, record producer, and rapper, wrote, in part, “He’s not a good person , I don’t like his music so I can’t say he’s even a good artist . He’s honestly a selfish individual with malicious, cunning ways.”He further alleged that Ed had his music removed from streaming services and that he turned his back on him once he became famous.“I agree with all the comments he’s got and bad press. Beware that he’s very calculated and cruel. That’s my honest opinion and I’m family!! He’s not a true Sheeran !” he added.Ed has yet to address the allegations, if at all.September 19, 2026Ed removes the B-stage from his show and begins to break his silence on the whole sagaEd removed the smaller B-stage from his performance during his Philadelphia tour stop on September 17 because he was “afraid of what might happen” if he stood in the middle of the crowd.He also opened his show by issuing an apology to the crowd of 50,000 people, admitting that the saga forced him to make “difficult decisions” he regretted and referred to as “mistakes.”He also broke his silence on the Israel and Gaza of it all. While he referred to the October 7 attacks on Israel as “horrific,” he also claimed that everything going on in Gaza is “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”“This is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore,” he said, sharing that he didn’t know if he should go on with the tour and if he still wanted to be an artist.“I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” he explained.