Ed Sheeran, the global pop star known as the “Mr Nice Guy” of music, is facing the biggest controversy of his career after a political row over Gaza turned his US tour into a culture war. The conflict began when his support act, the Grammy-winning rapper Macklemore, used his set at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to call for a “free Palestine” and perform Hind’s Hall, his 2024 protest song, leading to his removal from the tour and a wave of backlash.
Macklemore Dropped After Political Statement
Macklemore, who was supporting Sheeran on the US leg of his Loop tour, performed Hind’s Hall while footage of pro-Palestine student demonstrations and destruction in Gaza played behind him. The backlash was immediate. The StopAntisemitism group accused Macklemore of “ambushing” fans with “anti-Israel propaganda”, a post amplified by the singer Pink. The Israeli-American Council called for him to be pulled from the tour, asking where the line should be drawn “when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda”.
Macklemore was soon dropped from the remaining tour dates. He then accused Sheeran of a “determination not to take sides publicly”, claiming that Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, had pressured Sheeran by threatening to pull his stadium from the tour dates and urging other venues to do the same. Sheeran’s team confirmed multiple venues had objected to Macklemore staying on the bill. Kraft, a prominent supporter of Israel and founder of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, has a personal relationship with Sheeran, who sang at his 2022 wedding. In a phone call with Sheeran, the billionaire reportedly acknowledged the sensitivity of Gaza but argued Macklemore’s remarks crossed into hate speech.
Sheeran's Statement Fails to Calm Backlash
Sheeran’s own statement, published a day later, did little to calm things. He said dropping Macklemore was not his decision and he was “deeply disappointed” by it, but made clear he was not using the moment to declare a position on Israel and Palestine. He was “appalled by the conflict”, he wrote, adding that the “suffering and pain caused on both sides” was “a human tragedy”. “I am not complicit. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have [personal views], and it doesn’t mean that I don’t care.” He wanted his concerts to stay places of “safety and sanctuary”, where people could gather regardless of politics.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) was unconvinced: Sheeran’s statement, it said, “attempts to ‘both-sides’ Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza” and its appeal to “peace” left out “its crucial condition – justice”.
Support Acts Pull Out, Social Media Backlash
Within days, every other support act on the US tour pulled out, including Finneas, Lukas Graham, the Irish band Beoga and Aaron Rowe. Sheeran’s Instagram following dropped by almost 150,000 in 24 hours; Macklemore gained more than 750,000. The actor Hannah Einbinder, Irish musician CMAT and Zara Larsson spoke up for Macklemore. Then Tommy Robinson tweeted his support for Sheeran, yanking the singer into a political camp about as far as possible from where he would want to be.
“Taking a side can cost you,” Macklemore said. “Money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access. I’ve lost all of those things. But there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.”
Broader Implications for Artists and Free Speech
The episode points to a broader shift in what people expect of celebrities. Social media and the sheer weight of feeling over Gaza have made the old split between public image and private politics much harder to hold. “If you’re not using your platform, you’re seen as doing something wrong,” said Stephen Millar, the author of Sounding Dissent. Artists have become proxies for arguments much bigger than themselves, with figures such as Gal Gadot and Mark Ruffalo becoming stand-ins for opposing sides of the Israel-Palestine debate.
“There is this sort of proxy war fought out with celebrities. People have been protesting for almost three years and it doesn’t seem to have made any difference, so I think they’re getting more and more angry and frustrated,” said Dorian Lynskey, the author of 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs. The journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro made a similar point to CNN: “There’s an increasing antipathy towards Israel, regardless of left or right, and popular culture gives people a way in – they’re not talking about what’s happening in Congress, but this they can understand.”
Lisa Nandy, the UK culture secretary, said she had “enormous sympathy” for Sheeran, calling his position “really difficult and impossible” – he wanted to platform his support acts, she said, while promoters were warning him they would cancel shows over politics on stage. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told TMZ: “When you see what Robert Kraft did, to line up all of the stadiums to censor speech in that one specific way, it’s become clear this isn’t about one or two music artists – it’s about how a handful of stadium owners and the elite can bury an entire massive issue. In this case, the genocide in Gaza. We need to be very clear about how dangerous a precedent this is.”
Sheeran's Next Steps and Financial Response
Sheeran is due back onstage at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday – with no support acts and no band. It’s a sharp contrast to his last tour, one of the best-attended of all time; this time thousands of tickets sit unsold, some going for $65 online. Classic Hits Radio in Ireland has dropped him from its playlist “for the foreseeable future”, citing listener reaction.
Sheeran has tried to answer the controversy on his own terms: through money instead of words. Macklemore has pledged $1m of his Loop tour earnings to humanitarian organisations in Gaza; Sheeran and Kraft have each promised $2m for “aid in the region”. It is a way of showing he cares about the human cost without making any overt political statements – but whether it satisfies the people who wanted him to speak is another matter.
Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of Independent Veterans of America, who was inside MetLife Stadium with his two young children on the night of Macklemore’s statement, told CNN Sheeran might be better placed than most to do some good here: “Maybe Ed Sheeran is the person who can actually bring people together around this. But it’s not going to be by throwing Macklemore under the bus or by appeasing Bob Kraft.” Bragg said: “By trying to be Mr Nice Guy and not take sides, he’s in danger of becoming a pariah himself. And that would be a shame, because it’s not his fault. He does need to make a choice here, and it’s one I think that will define him in the eyes of the public for a long time.”
