Macklemore has been loudly advocating for an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza for years, but some Ed Sheeran fans are just now finding out about it. The Seattle rapper is currently opening for Sheeran on his North American stadium tour, and he's using it as a platform to advocate for a free Palestine among other causes. In response, a pro-Israel group has launched a petition to get him removed from the tour.
Halfway through his opening set Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Macklemore delivered a version of the speech he's been giving through the tour. He's since posted video footage of the speech on Instagram for all to see.
I've been trying to figure out a way to say this all day. One of the reasons why I wanted to come on this tour was because I wanted to stand up here on stages in stadiums across America 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 from Gaza, all the way to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten them.
And this next song was inspired by the bravery of Columbia University students who led an encampment movement that mobilized the entire world. Opened up hearts, myself included. So thank you to those students that risked their diplomas, that risked their tuition, that risked their scholarships, that stood up and said, "No." CUAD students, Students For Justice In Palestine, and Jewish Voices For Peace. Thank you guys.
To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters: Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you. My message is for peace. Love. For all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality. So I say free Palestine. I say free Lebanon. I say free Cuba. I say free Congo, free Sudan, free all people in America living in fear over this terrorist organization ICE. None of us will be free until we are all free.
Macklemore then performed "Hind's Hall," the song he released two years ago in support of the Columbia student protestors who occupied Hamilton Hall and renamed it in honor of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed alongside her family in Gaza.
In response to Macklemore's speech and performance, the Israeli American Council released a petition calling on Sheeran to drop Macklemore from his tour. It's headlined "Ed Sheeran - Your Show. Your Stage. Your Responsibility!" Part of the text reads as follows:
This was an Ed Sheeran concert - not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event.
The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.
This becomes even more troubling when the message relies on selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact, without context or complexity.
The decision to perform Hind’s Hall was not incidental. The song was written in explicit support of the campus protest movement and takes its name from “Hind’s Hall” the name protesters gave Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall after occupying the building.
Some of those protests involved trespassing, building occupations, vandalism, disruption of university operations, and violations of the law - conduct that stands in direct conflict with core American values, including the rule of law, open discourse, respect for institutions, and shared civic space.
After calling on Sheeran to drop Macklemore from the tour, the petition continues, "We also call on tour leadership to clarify whether Macklemore’s political speech, visual content, and performance of Hind’s Hall were approved in advance, and to establish clear boundaries for the use of the tour stage to promote political messaging." The petition does not display how many people have signed it.
This is not the first time Macklemore has faced blowback for his political speech in recent years. In 2024, he was dropped from the lineup of the Neon City festival in Las Vegas after unveiling sequel song "Hind's Hall 2" and announcing, "Fuck America," onstage during a pro-Palestine concert in his hometown of Seattle. He later offered a statement providing further context on his stance, after which Seattle sports teams including the Mariners, Sounders, and Storm announced they were reevaluating their relationship with Macklemore in light of his comments. In 2025, he released another protest song, "Fucked Up."
His speech from Friday is viewable below.
