The P!nk, Macklemore and Ed Sheeran Fiasco, Explained

For all of September, Ed Sheeran, a previously uncontroversial Irish singer-songwriter, has been roiled in a free-speech debate over the dropping of pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore from his blockbuster Loop Tour. Now with all of his opening bands quitting, ticket sales falling and a conflict over antisemitism vs. anti-Zionism still brewing, it’s become the biggest celebrity dustup over the issue yet. But how did we get here?

Macklemore’s opening set

On September 4 and 5, American rapper Macklemore, the opening act on Irish singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran’s massive Loop Tour, showed images of pro-Palestinian protests and flags in his set, walked onstage with a keffiyeh and expressly supported Palestine, as well as Sudan, the Congo, Iran, Cuba, Lebanon. He also addressed Jewish fans: “Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you.” The two performances in New Jersey weren’t out of place for the vocal rapper; he has used his platform repeatedly to advocate for Palestinians, particularly after the October 7 massacre and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of Gaza.

He also performed “HIND’S HALL,” his 2024 song evoking Columbia University students’ renaming of Hamilton Hall during their brief occupation of the building that spring. The name was a tribute to Hind Rajab, a five-year-old killed by Israeli forces. The song goes after white supremacy, Meta, the police, AIPAC, Joe Biden and U.S. complicity in Gaza’s destruction: “Destroyin’ every college in Gaza and every mosque / Pushin’ everyone into Rafah and droppin’ bombs,” he raps, somewhat crudely, but still urgently, labeling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. He also tries to disentangle anti-Zionism from antisemitism (“I’ve seen Jewish brothers and sisters out there and ridin’ in solidarity”) and alleges that his peers in the music industry are “complicit in their platform of silence,” a charge that would come to be prescient.

Some concertgoers said his opening set felt like a political rally. A Long Island resident told CBS News that Macklemore showed a video that painted “IDF soldiers as Nazis,” and noted that a visible number of people left their seats and returned when the set was over. She requested a refund but hadn’t heard back from the concert organizer.  Another attendee commented on Facebook that “many Jewish concertgoers in the crowd [felt] unsafe and extremely uncomfortable.” 

Macklemore has had a touchy relationship with the Jewish community ever since a 2014 performance where he wore a hooked nose, black wig and beard that was an antisemitic caricature. He said that it was a “random costume,” but later apologized.

How did P!nk get involved?

On September 7, the day after the second Loop Tour show in New Jersey, P!nk reposted an Instagram video from the watchdog group StopAntisemitism. It denied that Israel’s actions in Gaza constituted a genocide and said that concertgoers were “ambushed by Macklemore’s anti-Israel propaganda” and that he had “turned a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state.” Several pop culture accounts on X picked up and circulated her reposting, spurring controversy for the usually liberal LGBTQ advocate, who was seen as taking a step back on one of the biggest moral crises of our time. But a few days later, she responded with a lengthy post on Instagram, regretting her decision to simply repost a video with someone else’s commentary instead of using her own words. 

“I was born a Jew,” she began her post, which coincided with Rosh Hashanah. “I didn’t pick it, and I’ve never hidden it. And this week a whole lot of people decided what I believe without asking me, without checking a single thing I’ve ever said or done, because a repost and the word ‘Jew’ were apparently enough to fill in the rest.”

Here are the highlights: While pointing to her decade-long role as a UNICEF Ambassador, she confirmed her belief in Hamas as a terrorist organization and that Palestinians deserve equal rights and safety. She mentioned “Dear Mr. President,” her song with the Indigo Girls that rebuked George W. Bush in the middle of the Gulf War, and noted her long history in advocacy. “I stood with gay kids before it was fashionable and with trans kids now, when it isn’t, and with their families, and I handed out the books that got banned, and you know I got called every name there is, and I’d do all of it again tomorrow,” she wrote.

“Something has changed in this country, and I can read it in my own comments,” she continued, noting her seeing the proliferation of “Zionist” as a slur and “from the river to the sea,” which some groups, like the ADL, consider to be antisemitic. “I wasn’t asked” what she believed as a Jewish person by comment-dwellers, “I was told. I don’t think most of them hate Jews. I think somebody handed them a story where the Jew who won’t apologize for existing must be the villain, and they’ve been putting words in my mouth ever since.”

Macklemore’s protest imagery, and later separation of Israel’s war from American Jewry, struck the wrong nerve. He “took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them,” P!nk said.

She asked for the chance to be heard, but more importantly, “I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund.” Afterward, a petition to remove her from the UNICEF Ambassador position she mentioned gained over 170,000 signatures, including the backing of No Country For Old Men star Javier Bardem. 

Another petition, started by the Israeli American Council, sought for Macklemore to be removed from Ed Sheeran’s tour, alleging that showcasing “images from Gaza and other political messaging” was inappropriate, railing against an opening act that “uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.” Macklemore doubled down on Instagram, reposting his speech to the audience that he was inspired to partake in the massive tour so that he could use his visibility to support vulnerable Palestinians. “Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial,” he wrote in the caption.

How did Robert Kraft get involved?

In the midst of the media attention generated by P!nk’s response, Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, where the Loop Tour was scheduled to play, called Sheeran to say Macklemore wouldn’t be allowed to perform. Kraft allegedly rallied other stadium owners to give Sheeran an ultimatum: “If Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”

On September 14, Rolling Stone reported that Macklemore had been dropped from the rest of Ed Sheeran’s tour, which he confirmed on Instagram later that day. He noted that neither he nor Ed Sheeran nor P!nk were victims—“We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world.” The Palestinian people, he said, are the ones still at risk. “[They’ve been] killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence…I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that.”

In his statement, Kraft didn’t deny Macklemore’s comments, simply saying the rapper’s “recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community” would make his upcoming performances at Gillette Stadium untenable. He also noted his time spent both toward fighting antisemitism and standing for Palestine. “This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf…Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering, but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate.”

Sheeran then dropped Macklemore from the tour, who noted this was in line with the apolitical stance Sheeran prioritized. “When one side has the bombs and bottomless financial and military support from America, refusing to take a side doesn’t leave you in the middle,” he continued.

In his post, Macklemore said that labeling him as an antisemite is an effective way to shut down dialogue and stop conversations. “Antisemitism is real,” he wrote. “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.”

He ended the post reflecting on “Free Palestine,” the “words that somehow became too dangerous to say…If those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.” Artists like CMAT, Zara Larsson, Kelela and MUNA chimed in with their support, and the post has over 8.2 million likes.

Ed Sheeran’s response

A day later, Sheeran chimed in with his own post on Instagram, writing that he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy.” He confirmed venues reached out to say they’d be pulling the shows if Macklemore remained (Kraft being one of them). Sheeran said he had been trying to “build a bridge” all week, to no avail. “I am not complicit,” he wrote. “I choose to use my fame and platform to be a place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed. If we only focus on shouting the loudest, nothing will ever change. There are different approaches to being an advocate for change.” 

Critics pointed out that Sheeran had, in fact, been political in the past—in 2017, he endorsed Britain’s Labour Party, then a year later, signed a public letter to Theresa May calling for a second vote on Brexit. He performed at a 2022 fundraising event for Ukraine, “but considers Palestine too dangerous and political,” wrote Ms. Rachel, the activist and children’s YouTuber. The Loop Tour began to implode, with all three supporting acts—Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham—and Sheeran’s backing band, Beoga, resigning in solidarity with Macklemore. “Money doesn’t give you the right to own the conversation,” wrote Lukas Graham’s lead singer, Lukas Forchhammer. “Nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we’re allowed to acknowledge.”

Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told GBH News that though it’s prickly, private entities like The Kraft Group “are leasing that space in order to make their own autonomous decisions about what shows they want to host or what events they want to host in that space,” so it wouldn’t be a First Amendment violation. However, Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium and Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium are publicly owned and operated, so if they were included in the owners that Kraft “rallied” to drop Macklemore, it could be an issue. But since Macklemore didn’t specify which stadiums, there’s no way to know.

The show must go on

On September 19, after a self-described “weird week,” Sheeran got on stage at a less-than-full yet still sizable Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where he cried and spoke about both sides of the situation, including apologizing for “making mistakes.” 

“I don’t want to disappoint fans, and I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” he said while a crowd of about 100 protesters stood outside. A new backup band played, and Sheeran didn’t put in a secondary stage for the night, fearing physical retaliation from the audience. But a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer said that the crowd remained joyous, entertained by Sheeran’s set and stories of his first Philadelphia cheesesteak in 2012. It was even, he said, the “best show” he’s ever had.

Sheeran’s speech received quick backlash from critics who said the superstar was pretending to be powerless in blaming a promoter over what was originally his decision, and from reading what looked to be a statement that weren’t his own words. “Equivocating, meaningless bullshit,” slammed Defector, who titled their article “Ed Sheeran Delivers Pointless Statement Then Cries.”

Meanwhile, Macklemore, as well as the backing bands that resigned, are enjoying increased streams of their music. Macklemore has pledged to donate his earnings from the Loop Tour, more than $1 million, to six charities, including Medical Aid for Palestinians, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, UNRWA and others. Ms. Rachel matched this donation, and called on others to join. Macklemore’s new venture is the Free Palestine Tour, with stops in London, Dublin and Paris this October, with all proceeds going toward Palestinian organizations. 

From the Gillette Stadium X account, Kraft also pledged $2 million, matching Sheeran’s donation, though Kraft neglected to specify which charities, noting it was only going “to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.” A report by The Intercept highlighted that Kraft’s past donations tended to focus on Israel, like Friends of the IDF and the United Democracy Project, the super PAC of AIPAC.

The biggest loser in the controversy, of course, is Sheeran. While technically P!nk amplified the complication, she’s gotten out slightly unscathed, though artists like Madonna and Ariana Grande have recently unfollowed her. But it’s Sheeran’s tour, after all. Not only did his apolitical stance cost him industry respect and fan support, but independent radio stations are pulling his songs, his own cousin, the reggae musician and producer Jethro Sheeran, came out of the woodwork to call him a “coward” and a “bad human,” and he was lambasted by the British version of Saturday Night Live. And he has three more months of tour to get through. But if you’re still a fan, Sheeran’s tickets are reportedly at their lowest prices yet. Just don’t expect Macklemore to pop back up to sing “Thrift Shop.”

 

(Top image credits: Selbymay (CC BY-SA 4.0) / UK Prime Minister (CC BY 2.0) / Ralph_PH (CC BY 2.0))