Macklemore is no longer opening for Ed Sheeran. The rapper was pulled from the remaining US stadium dates after he voiced support for a free Palestine during a MetLife Stadium performance earlier this month, where he performed“Hind’s Hall”and thanked student protest groups from the stage. According to the promoter, Messina Touring Group, several venues threatened to cancel their shows entirely if he remained on the lineup.
The decision lands in the middle of a much bigger argument. The Israeli American Council petitioned for his removal, and both P!NK and Boy George publicly criticized him. Messina’s official line is that pulling Macklemore protected the tour for the hundreds of thousands of fans holding tickets. Macklemore was booked for eight of the final ten dates, starting with Philadelphia on September 19, so a lot of ticket holders are now getting a different show than they expected.
Where you land on this probably says a lot about how you feel about celebrity activism in general. A stadium stage reaches tens of thousands of people at once, and that’s exactly why some artists use it and exactly why venues get nervous about it. It’s free speech versus business pressure, and there isn’t a clean answer.
So what do you think: should touring artists keep their politics off the stage, or is the stage the whole point? Sound off in the comments.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.