Why Was Macklemore Reportedly Dropped From Ed Sheeran’s 2026 Tour? The Pink Drama, Explained

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 reportedly dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour following a fan petition against his comments, escalating the drama. Here’s a timeline of what’s happened so far.If you’ve avoided scrolling through your social feeds this week 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 (kinda).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.Now, Pink has released a lengthy statement explaining her sentiment, while several sources reveal Macklemore has been dropped from Ed’s tour in the wake of a petition over his comments. Confused? Here’s how everything unfolded, in chronological order, so you can get up to speed.Jump to:September 4, 2026September 6, 2026September 7, 2026September 11, 2026September 14, 2026September 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 on-stage 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 on stage.She faced backlash for the subtle social media move, though 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, 2026Reports claimed Macklemore has since been 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, 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 ImagesMacklemore has yet to address the situation, as Ed remains silent.