Mr AP

🇺🇸 The Macklemore/Ed Sheeran story is starting to look less like a tour dispute and more like a test of how much the entertainment industry's politics on Palestine have shifted. First, what happened. Macklemore used 2 opening sets at MetLife Stadium to say “Free Palestine,” speak about Gaza and the West Bank, and perform “Hind’s Hall” with images from Gaza behind him. Afterward, several venues told promoter Messina Touring Group they would not host the remaining shows with Macklemore on the bill. Robert Kraft, whose company owns Gillette Stadium, confirmed he objected to Macklemore performing there, while Macklemore says Sheeran told him Kraft had also contacted other stadium owners. Sheeran finally responded: “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.” He says he spent the week trying to “build bridges,” but venues were threatening to cancel entire shows if Macklemore remained and he was not prepared to cancel on hundreds of thousands of fans and crew. Then things got considerably messier. Every remaining support act walked. Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga all quit the tour in solidarity with Macklemore and Palestinians. Kehlani, Garbage, Ms. Rachel and others publicly backed him, while Javier Bardem has now called for a boycott of Sheeran’s tour. Sheeran also lost tens of thousands of Instagram followers during the backlash, another sign that the pressure was not running only in one direction. So what does Sheeran do now? He can rebuild the support bill and continue as planned, betting that the controversy burns itself out. He can pressure the promoter and stadium owners to reconsider Macklemore, potentially putting some of those stadium dates back at risk. Or he can take a clearer public position himself, something he has so far deliberately avoided by arguing that his concerts should remain politically neutral. His statement strongly suggests he intends to keep touring and stick with the third-party explanation: the venues and promoter made the decision, not him. But there is a much bigger story here. The entertainment industry's relationship with Palestine has changed dramatically since the first months after October 7. At the 2024 Oscars, Billie Eilish, Finneas, Mark Ruffalo, Ava DuVernay and Ramy Youssef were among the stars wearing Artists4Ceasefire pins. The same campaign had already appeared at the Grammys and SAG Awards. By 2025, it had moved far beyond pins. Thousands of film workers signed a pledge refusing to work with Israeli film institutions they considered complicit in abuses against Palestinians. The names included Emma Stone, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Ava DuVernay, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed and Javier Bardem. Hannah Einbinder then said “Free Palestine” from the Emmy stage. Bardem arrived wearing a keffiyeh and openly discussed boycotting institutions. And “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” about the 5-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza, received a 23-minute standing ovation at Venice. Brad Pitt, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara and Alfonso Cuarón were among its executive producers. Now, in 2026, removing one pro-Palestinian artist from a stadium tour has resulted in every other support act walking out. That doesn't mean Hollywood and the music industry have suddenly become uniformly pro-Palestinian. Major studios, industry figures and pro-Israel groups continue to push strongly in the opposite direction, and artists can still face professional consequences for speaking out. But the career-risk equation does appear to have changed. A few years ago, speaking publicly for Palestine could make an artist the problem. Now, trying to silence one can become the problem too. And Ed Sheeran may have just found himself standing directly where those two pressures meet. Sources: BBC, Reuters, AP, The Guardian, Pitchfork, Social Blade / Writer: Julie