Macklemore has been removed from the remaining dates of Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, and the reason came from the buildings, not the headliner. According to Sheeran’s concert promoter, multiple venues on the upcoming schedule told them they would not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup. That left the promoter with a choice: pull the rapper from the eight remaining shows, or cancel the tour entirely and impact hundreds of thousands of ticket holders.
The decision followed pro-Palestine speeches Macklemore delivered during performances at MetLife Stadium earlier in September. The remarks drew national backlash and prompted the Israeli-American Council to launch a petition calling for his removal from the tour. In a statement, the promoter said stakeholders agreed it was best for him not to continue on the U.S. leg.
For Suncoast concertgoers, the episode raises a familiar question in a new form. Venues make lineup decisions all the time, but rarely this publicly, and rarely under this kind of pressure. Sheeran’s tour continues without him, so ticket holders still get their show. The debate about who gets to perform, and who decides, is the part that isn’t going away.
Do you think venues should be able to remove an artist over political speech? Tell us in the comments.
