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Macklemore Donates $1m After Removal

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After Ed Sheeran removed him from the US Loop Tour for saying "Free Palestine," rapper Macklemore donated $1 million to aid organisations supporting Palestinians.

Reposted by Steve Peers, David S. Cohen, Nandita Sharma , and 1 more

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phillewis.bsky.social
Rapper Macklemore has been dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour after he made a “Free Palestine” speech on stage earlier this month
Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran's Tour After 'Free Palestine' Speech
www.huffpost.com
September 14, 2026 at 3:24 PM

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donmoyn.bsky.social
Unlike Macklemore, these support acts don’t have big followings and they are giving up their chance to perform to stadiums to push back against censorship, not of themselves but of a fellow artist. Respect.
unamullally.bsky.social Una Mullally @unamullally.bsky.social · 2d
The Irish musicians, Beoga, who play alongside Ed Sheeran, have withdrawn from Sheeran’s tour.

This is the statement they published on Instagram:
September 15, 2026 at 9:10 PM

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premthakker.bsky.social
New: Macklemore says Robert Kraft — who owns Gillette Stadium, where Macklemore & Ed Sheeran were to perform later this month — called Sheeran.

Kraft rallied other owners together behind an ultimatum for Sheeran: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you won't be allowed in our venues.
I'm not sure how to start this. So I'm going to speak from the heart and share the truth. Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour. But before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious. In this moment I think it matters. I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families. The victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don't lose sight of that. Ed is my friend. I've known him for 13 years. We've shared late nights, studio sessions and stages. He has this infectious magic about him that I've grown to love. I consider him a brother. And because of that, we've had some difficult conversations this past week. The type of talks rooted in love and respect for one another that still end in a place of fundamental disagreement. Nothing I'm writing here is out of spite or because I want to tear down his character. But as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can't change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened. Last Monday, in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said at MetLife, Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him. We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft Group. Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues. Ed was in … What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years. So why is it an issue now? Because now I'm sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America. At a certain level of exposure, "Free Palestine" becomes too much of a risk. If I kept doing the shows, saying Free Palestine, with Ed implicitly supporting it, the crowd getting loud and showing undeniable support for Palestinian liberation, what artist might speak out next? The stage becomes resistance. Maybe that's why this time it became so important to silence me. And one of the most effective ways to enforce that silence has been to weaponize the accusation of antisemitism. Antisemitism is real. And that is exactly why the word matters too much to be used as a shield against criticism of the Israeli state. When criticizing Israel, opposing Zionism or saying "Free Palestine" gets conflated with hatred of Jewish people, it doesn't protect Jewish people. It protects Israel from accountability. I hope this isn't the end of my relationship with Ed. Thirteen years of friendship doesn't disappear because of one painful disagreement. I hope we both continue listening, studying what is happening in Palestine and wrestling with what neutrality means in a moment like this. My door will always be open to continuing that conversation. When my brother Omar was doing the subtitles for the video I posted from MetLife, I thanked him. He told me there's a phrase in Arabic: لا شكر على واجب "La shukra ala wajeb." There is no thanks for a duty. That stayed with me. Because that's what this has become for me and millions of others around the world. A duty. Not something deserving of praise or gratitude. Not brave. Human. Who is winning the internet, who is getting canceled, who gets to play the stadium and who doesn't, all of it becomes so small when held against what we are actually witnessing in Gaza and the West Bank. An entire people be…
September 14, 2026 at 4:04 PM

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verybadllama.bsky.social
I mean if you really want to hear Ed Sheeran without any opening acts you can simply get put on hold with your bank
September 16, 2026 at 2:26 AM

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unamullally.bsky.social
The Irish musicians, Beoga, who play alongside Ed Sheeran, have withdrawn from Sheeran’s tour.

This is the statement they published on Instagram:
September 15, 2026 at 7:31 PM

by Glenn Greenwald

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Reposted by Will Jennings

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news.abc.net.au
Ed Sheeran, Robert Kraft donate millions for Gaza aid after Macklemore's urging
Ed Sheeran, Robert Kraft donate millions for Gaza aid after Macklemore's urging
Macklemore had challenged Robert Kraft to match his donation to Palestinian charities after the billionaire stadium owner dropped him from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour. 
www.abc.net.au
September 17, 2026 at 3:15 AM

Reposted by Rebecca Ruth Gould, Steven French

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premthakker.bsky.social
New: Macklemore will donate entire $1M of his earnings from Ed Sheeran's tour to six orgs helping Palestinians — and invites Robert Kraft to match him.

Says he wants to center Palestinians being killed + journalists & aid workers who keep going.

"Their risk is of a far different order than mine."
With everything that has happened over the last 48 hours, I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under military occupation, and still fighting for their freedom. I will be donating the entire $1 million of my net earnings from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour to six organizations working directly to support the Palestinian people. And I invite Robert Kraft to match my donation. Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth. That is what this has always been about. Not me. Not a tour. Not the headlines or the controversy. It is about Palestinians right to freedom, dignity and safety in their own homeland. I want to center the parents carrying their children into hospitals without the basic resources to treat them, and the physicians, paramedics, journalists and aid workers who keep going back in. I want to center the organizers and activists who have paid real costs for standing with Palestine. Their risk is of a far different order than mine. Just yesterday, 15 year old Muhammad al Zinati was killed in an Israeli strike while rushing to help aid worker Sherif Lubbad, who had already been injured. He was a child. Both were murdered. Both should be alive. And the ones still under the rubble, whose names exist only in the memories of people who may not have survived to speak them. Writing a check is one of the least costly forms of solidarity available to me. I am doing it because I can, and because these organizations are doing the work while much of the world debates it. But aid alone cannot address the conditions that make it necessary. This is a manmade injustice, and I believe it requires immediate political change. Palestinians have lived for decades without basic rights and should not have to wait another day to be free. That is where my focus will remain. I will …
September 16, 2026 at 8:33 PM

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paulblinkhorn.bsky.social
You can't blame Ed Sheeran for caving in to American stadium owners I suppose. I mean, take these guys in the 60s, they refused to play to racially-segregated audiences in stadiums in the southern states of the USA and who remembers them now?
The Beatles banned segregated audiences, contract shows
The Beatles refused to play to segregated audiences in the US, a contract for one of the group's concerts shows.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 15, 2026 at 12:04 PM

Reposted by Dunlap, Steven H. Seggie, Henry Jones

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phillewis.bsky.social
NEW YORK (AP) — At least three supporting acts quit Ed Sheeran's tour after Macklemore is dropped over pro-Palestinian comments onstage.
September 15, 2026 at 7:46 PM

by Cas Mudde

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casmudde.bsky.social
Wonderful acts of principled solidarity that make Sheeran’s centrist “neutrality” look even more pathetic. ✊
Ed Sheeran’s tour in trouble after opening acts drop out in solidarity with rapper Macklemore
Ed Sheeran’s tour of North and South America was plunged into chaos Tuesday when four of his supporting acts — including his touring band — abruptly quit in solidarity with the rapper Macklemore, who ...
www.chicagotribune.com
September 15, 2026 at 10:40 PM

by Trita Parsi

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tparsi.bsky.social
Seldom does cowardice get punished as much as it deserves.

But in Ed Sheeran's case, we're getting close.

An Irish radio station - apparently big enough to make the news - has dropped Sheeran's music! It did so, it says, due to feedback from its listeners.
September 17, 2026 at 12:15 PM

Reposted by Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Anders Sundnes Løvlie

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sugarcubedog.bsky.social
Macklemore just announced he’s donating the $1 million he made from Sheeran’s tour to 6 organizations to support Palestinians and he’s asking Robert Kraft to match it. This is just the first part announcing it.
With everything that has happened over the last 48 hours, I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under military occupation, and still fighting for their freedom. I will be donating the entire $1 million of my net earnings from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour to six organizations working directly to support the Palestinian people. And I invite Robert Kraft to match my donation. Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth.
September 16, 2026 at 8:13 PM

by Glenn Greenwald Reposted by Mouin Rabbani

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Reposted by Steve Peers

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alexvont.bsky.social
It’s not an “impossible position”. Sheeran is a very wealthy, successful musician who was asked by a stadium owner to kick a fellow musician off his tour for political reasons. He could choose to kick Macklemore off or to say no thanks, we’ll play elsewhere. www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/new...
Ed Sheeran in an ‘impossible position’ over Macklemore Gaza row, says Lisa Nandy
www.independent.co.uk
September 16, 2026 at 11:55 AM

Reposted by Ann Bartow, Christopher McCabe

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killlthehype.blacksky.app
Macklemore just fried Ed Sheeran on IG 😬
September 14, 2026 at 4:29 PM

by Dana R. Fisher

24%
fisherdanar.bsky.social
I’m spending my afternoon listening to Finneas and Macklemore, how about you? #SolidarityIsResistance

www.npr.org/2026/09/16/g...
Ed Sheeran's tour in trouble after opening acts drop out in solidarity with rapper Macklemore
Ed Sheeran's tour of North and South America was plunged into chaos when four of his supporting acts quit in solidarity with the rapper Macklemore, who was dropped for making pro-Palestinian comments.
www.npr.org
September 16, 2026 at 8:44 PM

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Reposted by Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, James Goodwin, Mary McAuliffe , and 2 more

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unamullally.bsky.social
Lukas Graham, another support act on Ed Sheeran’s tour, also now withdrawing from the tour.
September 15, 2026 at 8:02 PM

by Shibley Telhami

24%
stelhami.bsky.social
"Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for ​the oppressed" www.reuters.com/business/med...
Sheeran says Israel critic Macklemore was axed from tour at promoter's behest
Pop star Ed Sheeran said the decision to drop pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore from his U.S. concert tour was made by organisers, not him, after he failed to defuse the latest show-business furore ov...
www.reuters.com
September 16, 2026 at 8:57 PM
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