Overview
- Messina Touring Group confirmed that Macklemore was removed from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour after his pro‑Palestine remarks during Sept. 4–5 performances at MetLife Stadium, with promoters saying some venues threatened to cancel shows if he stayed on the bill.
- Ed Sheeran said the decision was not his and that he tried to intervene with promoters and venue owners to keep Macklemore on the tour.
- Several scheduled opening acts — Finneas, Aaron Rowe, the Irish band Beoga and Lukas Graham — withdrew in solidarity, leaving the U.S. leg without its planned supporting artists.
- Macklemore said he will donate $1 million from his tour earnings to Palestinian aid groups and Robert Kraft, whom Macklemore accused of pressing for the removal, pledged $2 million for Gaza relief and said Sheeran had asked him to give.
- False social clips claiming Sheeran performed entirely solo were debunked as older footage, and the dispute has left the Loop Tour active but reputationally strained with uncertainty over remaining support acts and venue relations.