FILE - Macklemore performs at Austin City Limits Live during the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas on March 17, 2023.
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Four supporting acts have quit Ed Sheeran’s tour after Macklemore was removed for his pro-Palestinian comments onstage. Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga, Denmark's Lukas Graham, and Finneas posted separately on social media Tuesday that they would withdraw from the tour. The posts appeared hours after Sheeran said he refused to be drawn into a discussion about the war in Gaza. Sheeran stated on Instagram that the decision to remove Macklemore was solely the tour promoter's. Macklemore says he was dropped after expressing support for Palestinians during a concert in New Jersey.
Ed Sheeran's tour has been thrown into turmoil by all of his supporting acts quitting after the rapper Macklemore was dropped as an opener because of pro-Palestinian comments he made onstage. Sheeran says the decision to drop Macklemore was made by the promoter, not him. But the ouster led to Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga all leaving as well, citing artistic freedom and opposition to financial influence. That's an apparent reference to billionaire Robert Kraft's role in Macklemore's ouster. Sheeran hasn't commented since the other supporting acts left. His next performance is in Philadelphia on Saturday. Macklemore said Wednesday that he's donating $1 million to organizations supporting Palestinian people and challenged Kraft to match the donation.
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