Articles · Hot Take
Macklemore Gave Up $1 Million for Two Words. Ed Sheeran Cried and Kept the Tour Going.
The Set Newsroom · Fri Sep 25 2026
Macklemore paid real money to say two words onstage. Ed Sheeran cried instead of saying either one.
Macklemore stood on a stage at MetLife Stadium in front of 80,000 people, put on a keffiyeh, and said two words: Free Palestine. It cost him the rest of his tour and close to $1 million in pay. Three weeks later, Ed Sheeran stood on a different stage, cried in front of his own crowd, and never said those two words at all.
That is the whole story of what happens when a mega tour has to choose between a stadium deal and an actual stance. It is also a story every independent artist should read closely, because it shows exactly what you trade away the bigger the machine around you gets.
What Actually Happened
Macklemore opened for Sheeran's Loop Tour at MetLife Stadium on September 4. He performed "Hind's Hall" with footage of Gaza playing behind him and told the crowd he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know "they have not been forgotten." Rolling Stone reported he said he wanted to "stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpr76iaJrdM
Macklemore later told fans that Sheeran informed him Patriots owner Robert Kraft would not let him back into Kraft's stadium, and that Kraft rallied other venue owners into an ultimatum: drop Macklemore or lose the shows. Sheeran's promoter, Messina Touring Group, confirmed venues would cancel dates if Macklemore stayed on the bill, and he was cut from the rest of the U.S. run. (CNN)
Every other opening act on the tour, Finneas, Lukas Graham, Beoga, and Aaron Rowe, quit within days in solidarity.
Macklemore Paid For It, Literally
Macklemore did not just lose the gig. He pledged his entire net tour earnings, close to $1 million, to six organizations working in Gaza and the West Bank: the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, American Near East Refugee Aid, and UNRWA. Then he publicly challenged Kraft to match it with $2 million. (NBC News)
That is what conviction costs when you are the biggest name in the room. Not a caption. Actual income, actual stage time, actual relationships with the people who book your next tour.
The backlash cut both ways. The Israeli American Council launched a petition demanding Sheeran remove Macklemore, calling the show "not a political rally" and objecting to what it called "one-sided political agenda" and "selective imagery." Pink reshared a post arguing the crowd deserved an apology. (Stereogum) None of that changed what Macklemore had already given up to say what he said.
Ed Sheeran's Statement, Word By Word
Sheeran did not drop Macklemore himself. He let his promoter do it, then framed it as a decision out of his hands. His first public comment leaned on distance: "There is a reason I do not use my professional platform for politics." (ABC News)
Two weeks later, playing his first solo show since the fallout, in Philadelphia, he broke down in front of the crowd and called the situation in Gaza "catastrophic and unjustifiable." He called October 7 "horrific." He never said Macklemore's name. He never said the two words Macklemore said. He pledged $2 million and asked Kraft to match it, handing his own donation back to the same man who forced his opener off the tour. (Fox News)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTftAoej0YY
Watch both clips back to back. One artist spent something. The other one cried about not wanting to.
Why The Stadium Always Wins
This is not really about Ed Sheeran being a bad person. It is about what a 22-city stadium tour actually is: a contract between an artist, a promoter, and venue owners who can end the whole thing with one phone call. Robert Kraft did not need to fire Ed Sheeran. He just needed to remind him who owns the building.
Every artist at that level answers to somebody. A label. A promoter. A venue. A brand partner. The bigger the machine, the more people hold veto power over what comes out of your mouth on a stage you do not own. Sheeran's own words prove it: he said the decision to cut Macklemore was the venues' call, not his, and that he worked with "venue owners, including Robert Kraft" to find a resolution. That is a polite way of saying the money in the building outranked the artist on the stage.
What This Means If You're Independent
You do not have a Robert Kraft. Nobody owns the room you post in. Nobody can pull your next 20 dates because a stadium chairman did not like what you said. That is not a small thing. It is the entire trade you make when you stay independent instead of chasing a machine that big.
It does not mean every post has to be a political statement. It means when you decide something matters enough to say, you get to actually say it, and keep every dollar and every date that follows. That is the same principle behind why The Set exists in the first place: you keep your masters, you keep your fans, and you keep the actual say over your own career instead of handing it to somebody who can shut you down with a phone call. Look at the plans if you want to see what owning your own lane looks like in practice.
The Takeaway
Macklemore lost money and gained credibility. Sheeran kept the tour and lost the argument. If you are building independently, you already have the one thing he does not: nobody to answer to but your fans. Use it, or at least stop pretending silence is neutral.
Questions
Why was Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour?
Macklemore performed "Hind's Hall" and said "Free Palestine" while showing Gaza footage at MetLife Stadium on September 4, 2026. Stadium owners led by Patriots owner Robert Kraft told Sheeran's promoter they would cancel remaining shows if Macklemore stayed on the tour, so he was removed from the rest of the U.S. dates.
What did Ed Sheeran say about Gaza?
At his first solo concert after the fallout, in Philadelphia, Sheeran called the situation in Gaza "catastrophic and unjustifiable" and October 7 "horrific," but he did not name Macklemore or repeat the words Macklemore had used onstage.
Is Ed Sheeran donating money to Gaza relief?
Sheeran pledged $2 million and publicly asked Robert Kraft to match it. Macklemore had already pledged roughly $1 million, his net earnings from the tour, to six Palestinian aid organizations.