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Ed Sheeran support acts quit Loop tour after Macklemore dropped

musicSep 16, 2026821,920

All four supporting acts for Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour withdrew in protest after Macklemore was removed for saying "free Palestine" during a two-minute speech at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on 4 September. Finneas pulled out hours after Sheeran posted a statement; he had been due to open six South American dates in November and wrote that "Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed." Irish singer Aaron Rowe said he was dropping the 10 remaining North American dates because he could not "stand by" while billionaires silence voices speaking against what he called Israeli atrocities. Sheeran’s long-time backing band Beoga also left the US tour, citing the "silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies," and Danish band Lukas Graham withdrew with frontman Lukas Forchhammer saying nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak. Sheeran said some stadium owners, including Robert Kraft, refused to host dates if Macklemore remained on the bill; the withdrawals came hours after Sheeran confirmed that venue pressure had prompted Macklemore’s removal and will affect the upcoming Loop tour dates.

Wajahat Ali
@wajali.bsky.social

Robert Kraft is a supervillain, and we all know he's terrible. But how does Ed Sheeran recover from this? I'm curious if this is just a blip or something that will truly hurt his reputation and career. (Dude has over $300 million, so he'll be fine.)

1411h ago
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