Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran tour after onstage ‘Free Palestine’ speech

A statement was released by Sheeran's tour promoter

As reported by Variety, the American rapper, 43, will not appear for the remainder of Sheeran's Loop Tour after he made headlines for saying "free Palestine" onstage during a concert at the start of September.

Macklemore, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, gave a speech onstage at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey about Gaza and the occupied West Bank, saying he wanted the Palestinians to know they had "not been forgotten".

Macklemore was set to appear at eight more of Sheeran's shows. Image: Getty.

In his speech, the musician said: “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: free Palestine.”

“I said, ‘Free Palestine!’ I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.”

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“I think every single human being that walks this Earth deserves the exact same freedom.”

He added: “So, I say: Free Palestine! I say, free America, free Cuba to the Congo to Sudan to Iran, and all the people in America who have to live in fear because of this organization, ICE.”

In response, a petition was set up by the Israeli-American Council to remove Macklemore from the tour.

A statement from the promoter of Sheeran's tour, Messina Touring Group, was given to Rolling Stone.

It said: “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.

"After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”

Macklemore was set to perform at eight of the remaining tour dates on Sheeran's tour.