Ed Sheeran: Dropping Macklemore from tour was promoter’s decision

Ed Sheeran said the decision to remove rapper Macklemore from the remaining dates of his U.S. “Loop” tour rested with venues and promoters, not with him, breaking his silence Tuesday on a controversy that has dogged his stadium run for more than a week.

Macklemore had opened for Mr. Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sept. 4 and 5, where he called out “Free Palestine” from the stage and performed his song “Hind’s Hall,” which is tied to pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University. The moment drew a mixed reaction from the crowd and quickly spread across social media.

In a statement, Mr. Sheeran said he had spent the past week trying to reach a resolution with venue operators, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, before the tour’s promoter made the final call. “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,” he said, adding that Macklemore’s contract for the tour was held by the promoter rather than by him.

Mr. Sheeran said he did not want to jeopardize the tour for “the fans who had made plans” or the touring crew and other support acts who depend on the shows for work. He also defended his general reluctance to weigh in publicly on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying his concerts draw young audiences of “all backgrounds” who do not come expecting “a political forum.”

The tour’s promoter, Messina Touring Group, confirmed Macklemore’s removal from the eight remaining shows he had been booked to open, telling reporters that venue owners on the upcoming U.S. tour dates had notified the promoters they would not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore in the lineup. The tour is scheduled to resume Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, with stops at Mr. Kraft’s Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, following Sept. 25 and 26.

The dispute had already sparked a petition from the Israeli-American Council urging Mr. Sheeran to drop Macklemore, and pop singer Pink drew backlash of her own after reposting criticism of the rapper’s remarks.

Macklemore pushed back on the framing that he had been the driving force behind the fallout, saying in a lengthy Instagram post that he did not consider himself, Mr. Sheeran or Pink to be victims in the episode. “I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim,” he wrote, arguing that the real victims were Palestinians killed in the Gaza war. He also claimed Mr. Kraft had pressured other stadium owners into an ultimatum threatening to bar him from their venues if he remained on the bill.

Mr. Kraft confirmed separately that he was barring Macklemore from performing at Gillette Stadium later this month, citing the rapper’s rhetoric and imagery as reasons for concern, but he did not directly address Macklemore’s claim that he had rallied other stadium owners. “That advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community,” he said, while adding that his objection was not meant to minimize Palestinian suffering.

“I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict,” Mr. Sheeran wrote. “Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care. Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own, personal way.”