Macklemore faces petition after pro-Palestine remarks at Ed Sheeran concert

Macklemore, who opened for Ed Sheeran at the MetLife Stadium on Friday, used his set to call for “Free Palestine” and performed a protest song titled “Hind’s Hall.” The Israeli-American Council responded with an online petition urging Sheeran’s team to remove the rapper from the remainder of the Loop Tour, arguing that the concert should remain a musical event rather than a platform for political messaging.

The petition states, “This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” and calls for clarification on whether Macklemore’s speech and performance were approved in advance. It also asks tour leadership to set clear boundaries for political content on stage.

Macklemore explained that the song was inspired by recent campus protests and the renaming of Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall after Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza. He told the audience that he wanted the words “Free Palestine” to be heard loudly so that people in Gaza and the West Bank know they have not been forgotten.

“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,” Macklemore said during the show.

The petition argues that freedom of expression does not absolve performers from responsibility and urges the tour to keep its focus on music.