Macklemore is facing a boycott petition to remove him from Ed Sheeran’s tour after shouting ‘Free Palestine’ on stage last weekend.
The 43-year-old rapper was the opening act for Sheeran’s Loop tour at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Friday and Saturday and made his political message during his show.
The Thrift Store hitmaker has also previously expressed support for the Palestinians and criticized Israel’s behavior in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and has continued to do so for years.
As seen in fan-shot footage, at one point during his set he wore a keffiyeh and also sang his song Hind’s Hall with footage of Gaza on the huge stage behind him.
In 2024, Macklemore released Hind’s Hall; and in the song he criticized the actions in Gaza and sent the proceeds of his song to humanitarian efforts of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
During his appearance, he said he had a message to share with the Palestinian people and wanted to let them know that “they have not been forgotten.”
Macklemore, 43, is facing a boycott petition to remove him from Ed Sheeran’s tour after shouting ‘Free Palestine’ on stage this weekend; pictured in August
The rapper was the opening act for Sheeran’s Loop tour on Friday and Saturday in New Jersey, and made his political message during his show; Seen with Sheeran in 2013
Macklemore also said, “I believe that every human being who walks this earth deserves exactly the same freedom: to know safety and peace before they know the sounds of violence.”
During his speech, he called ICE a “terrorist organization” before shouting, “Liberate Palestine” and “Liberate Cuba, Congo, Sudan and Iran.”
He now faces one petition from the Israeli-American Council which urged that he should be dropped from the remaining dates of Sheeran’s tour.
The Daily Mail has contacted Macklemore’s representatives for comment.
The petition does not publicly reveal how many signatures have been collected so far.
The group’s petition reads: ‘This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest and not an activist event.’
“The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views,” the message continued.
“The question is where to draw the line when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.”
Fans split on social media after the show, with some defending his on-stage war comments while others accused him of anti-Semitic rhetoric.
He sang his song Hind’s Hall, which criticizes Israel for their actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and delivered a speech to the audience
During his speech, he called ICE a “terrorist organization” before shouting, “Liberate Palestine” and “Liberate Cuba, Congo, Sudan and Iran”; pictured in August
At the time of reporting, neither Macklemore nor Sheeran have publicly addressed the backlash.
In 2023, the rapper made a surprise appearance at a pro-Palestine protest in Washington DC, joining more than 100,000 people who gathered and marched to the White House and the Capitol.
At the time, he took the stage to condemn Israel’s retaliatory attacks, while admitting that he may not have been the most “qualified” person to intervene.
“They told me to be quiet, they told me to do my research, to go back, that it’s too complex to say anything, to be silent right now,” said the artist, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty.
“In the last three weeks I’ve gone back and done some research, I can teach… I don’t know everything, but I know enough to know this is a genocide.”
His speech came after protesters were seen waving a Hezbollah flag through the crowd, marking a somber moment when the symbol of a terrorist organization was cheered outside the White House.
Protesters attempted to scale the White House fence as the march stopped outside the Oval Office as the controversial chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” rang out.
In 2014, the rapper apologized after wearing a disguise on stage in Seattle that was condemned by many as an anti-Semitic Jewish caricature.
In 2014, the rapper apologized after wearing a disguise on stage in Seattle that was condemned by many as an anti-Semitic Jewish caricature (pictured)
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“There is no worse feeling than being misunderstood, especially when people are hurt or offended… I respect all cultures and all people,” he wrote on his website at the time.
“I would never intentionally denigrate someone because of the fabric that makes them who they are. I love people, originality, and… I like a strange outfit every now and then.’
Macklemore added that he never thought he looked Jewish.
“Some people there thought I looked like Ringo, others thought I looked like Abe Lincoln. I thought I looked like Humpty Hump with a carved bowl.”
