Macklemore Responds to Backlash Over ‘Free Palestine’ Chant at Ed Sheeran Show: ‘Wanting All Humans to be Treated Equal Should Never Be Controversial’
Categoria: Musica
In addition to a pro-Israel group calling for his removal from Sheeran's tour, P!nk and Boy George have criticized the "Thrift Shop" rapper's statements.
Por Billboard | 08/09/2026
Macklemore is not backing down from the “Free Palestine” statements he made during opening slots on Ed Sheeran ‘s Loop tour over the weekend. After facing backlash from Jewish organizations and from several other artists for chanting “Free Palestine” on stage during his sets on Friday (Sept. 4) and Saturday (Sept. 5) at Sheeran’s gigs at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Macklemore (born Benjamin Haggerty), posted “Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial,” on X, along with video of his speech from Saturday’s show. The 43-year-old “Thrift Shop” rapper courted controversy during his first opening set on Friday, when he told the crowd, “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.’ I said, ‘Free Palestine!’ I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people from Gaza all the way to the West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.” During his set, he also performed his 2024 protest song, “Hind’s Hall,” whose title references the renaming of a building at Columbia University to Hind’s Hall in honor of five-year-old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. The song supports pro-Palestinian protest efforts on university campuses and calls for an end to the Gaza war. His remarks ended with Macklemore confronting his fears about his decision to speak out on such a large platform in front of 89,000-plus Sheeran fans. “And if I let that fear I felt on the plane yesterday stop me from speaking my heart in order to keep my own comfort and the audience’s comfort, that is the day I no longer continue to be on stage,” he said. “So, I say ‘Free Palestine!’ I say, free America, free Cuba to the Congo to Sudan to Iran, and all the people in America who have to live in fear because of this terrorist organization ICE.” The initial comments drew commentary from the Israeli-American Council (IAC), which launched a petition calling for the rapper to be removed from the next eight U.S. stadium shows he’s slated to open for Sheeran through early November. “This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” the IAC’s petition reads. “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.” Macklemore restated his position at Saturday’s show, again chanting “Free Palestine,” and adding, “To all of my Jewish brother