Washington, MINA – Ed Sheeran’s backing band and three supporting acts have withdrawn from his tour after Macklemore was dropped following pressure from billionaire Robert Kraft and other stadium owners over the rapper’s pro-Palestinian performances, Anadolu Agency reports.
Irish band Beoga, singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, Danish band Lukas Graham, and US musician Finneas announced their departures yesterday.
Macklemore said Kraft, the pro-Israel billionaire whose company owns Gillette Stadium and the New England Patriots, told Sheeran he would not be allowed to perform at the stadium.
The rapper also accused Kraft of rallying other stadium owners to issue an ultimatum. Kraft confirmed that he opposed Macklemore’s participation at Gillette Stadium, citing his performances and what he described as anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery.
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Promoter Messina Touring Group separately confirmed that multiple venues would not permit concerts with Macklemore on the bill.
Sheeran said venues had threatened to pull upcoming shows and attributed Macklemore’s removal to the promoter. He said he had spent the week attempting to resolve the dispute.
“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas said. Beoga accused “Zionist lobbies” of silencing Macklemore. Rowe and Lukas Graham also confirmed their withdrawals while expressing affection for Sheeran.
The dispute follows another instance of Kraft using financial pressure amid pro-Palestinian activism. In April 2024, he said he was no longer comfortable supporting Columbia University “until corrective action is taken.” Kraft’s intervention was part of a pressure campaign by wealthy supporters of Israel weaponizing their donations to press institutions over their response to pro-Palestinian solidarity.
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Macklemore announced his removal on Monday after saying “Free Palestine” during performances at MetLife Stadium earlier this month. He denies being anti-Semitic and argues that conflating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism shields Israel from accountability. In his statement, the rapper urged readers to keep Palestinian suffering at the center of the controversy.
“The victims are the Palestinian people,” he wrote, referring to those killed, starved, and displaced. He also challenged claims of political neutrality: “There is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.”[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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