PHILADELPHIA, United States — Macklemore and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft have entered a public confrontation over the rapper’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s tour.
Macklemore accused Kraft of organising a boycott by stadium owners and challenged him to support relief work for Palestinians.
The dispute cost Sheeran his remaining support acts and house band.
But on Saturday, September 19, 2026, he performed at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, apologised for mistakes made during the controversy, addressed the war in Gaza, and continued the tour with replacement musicians.
The conflict began after Macklemore used appearances on Sheeran’s Loop tour in New Jersey to voice support for Palestinians and display Palestinian flags.
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He later said in an Instagram statement that Sheeran told him Kraft called to say the rapper would not be permitted to appear at Gillette Stadium, the Massachusetts venue owned by Kraft’s sports and entertainment group.
Macklemore also alleged that Kraft had persuaded other venue owners to take the same position.
“Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues,” Macklemore wrote.
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Messina Touring Group said it had been informed that several venues would refuse to stage a concert with Macklemore on the bill.
The promoter said cancellations would affect hundreds of thousands of ticket holders and confirmed that the rapper would no longer appear on the scheduled dates.
Macklemore and Kraft Exchange Challenges
Kraft said the decision followed Macklemore’s remarks during the New Jersey concerts and what he called “a broader history of rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”
He denied that the action was intended to silence advocacy for Palestinians or minimise their suffering.
Kraft, who founded the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, said he was willing to meet the rapper.
“I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same — peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate,” Kraft said in a statement reported by NBC News.
Macklemore described his conversations with Sheeran as difficult and said the two musicians had reached a fundamental disagreement over the response to his performance.
“He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flags were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with,” Macklemore wrote.
“I told him that if those words were more offensive than the tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood.”
The exchange then moved from access to stadiums to financial support for civilians. Macklemore said in a video posted to Instagram that he would give $1 million in net earnings from his participation in the tour to six organisations assisting Palestinians, and invited Kraft to contribute the same amount.
Kraft responded that Sheeran had already asked him to commit $2 million, matching a contribution from the singer, for humanitarian work in the region.
In his public response, Kraft said Sheeran planned to contact other venue owners as part of an effort to raise further support.
Statement from Robert Kraft pic.twitter.com/as3f4RUKse
— Gillette Stadium (@GilletteStadium) September 16, 2026
Performers Leave the Tour
The removal prompted Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, and Finneas to withdraw from dates they had been due to open. Beoga, Sheeran’s house band, also left the tour.
Their departures left the Philadelphia concert without its planned opening act or regular backing group.
Sheeran assembled a drummer, bassist, guitarist, keyboard player, and violinist, whom he said had three days to learn the material.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the stadium before the concert.
Inside, Sheeran opened his performance by addressing the controversy, saying the week had forced difficult choices and that some had resulted in mistakes.
“I am so, so sorry,” Sheeran said.
He described the Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023 as “horrific,” while calling the treatment of civilians in Gaza “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
“This is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore,” he said, according to an account of the Philadelphia concert.
Sheeran said he had not sought a role as a political campaigner but had been placed in a dispute involving artistic expression and the war.
He also raised concerns about venues seeking prior approval of performers’ content.
“I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician,” Sheeran said, “but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet.”
Sheeran Proceeds With the Concert
Despite the departures and demonstrations, Sheeran said he would honour his commitments to audiences.
He performed without the usual secondary stage, explaining that he had removed it because of concern about standing in the centre of the crowd.
The concert proceeded with the replacement band and ended with fireworks. Sheeran thanked the audience and called the Philadelphia performance the best show of his life.
The dispute unfolded against the continuing war in Gaza. Hamas-led attackers killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took roughly 250 hostages in 2023.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 73,000 people have been killed during Israel’s military campaign.
A United Nations commission said in an independent inquiry that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. Israeli officials rejected that conclusion, describing the findings as false and distorted.
