The Israeli-American Council is circulating a petition asking Ed Sheeran and the management of his Loop Tour to remove Macklemore from the remaining dates of the American leg, following the rapper's opening sets at MetLife Stadium over the weekend.
Macklemore performed on Friday and Saturday before crowds of more than 80,000. Wearing a keffiyeh, he called for a free Palestine and extended the call to Lebanon, Cuba, Congo, Sudan and Iran, and described US immigration enforcement as a terrorist organization. Footage of Gaza, the West Bank and pro-Palestinian demonstrations played on the stadium screens behind him. He closed with "Hind's Hall," his 2024 song named for the Columbia University building that pro-Palestinian protesters occupied and renamed after Hind Rajab, a young Palestinian girl killed during the war in Gaza.
He also addressed Jewish members of the audience directly, saying that criticism of Israel and opposition to what he called genocide were not criticism of them, and that his message was one of peace and equal treatment for all people.
The petition was launched on Saturday and is addressed to Sheeran, to MetLife Stadium's leadership, and to the venues, managers and producers connected to the tour. It states that the event was a concert rather than a political rally, protest or activist event, and that the question is not whether Macklemore is entitled to political views but where the line falls when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided agenda. Alongside removal, it asks the tour's leadership to clarify whether Macklemore's remarks, visual content and performance of "Hind's Hall" were approved in advance, and to establish limits on the use of the stage for political messaging.
The organization, which says it represents more than 150,000 Israeli-Americans, has also urged supporters to contact the promoter Live Nation. Promotional material for the campaign carries the message that the show, the stage and the responsibility belong to Sheeran. The petition does not publicly display the number of signatures it has gathered.
Macklemore is scheduled to appear at nine further dates on the tour, with stops reported in Philadelphia, Foxborough, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Arlington and Tampa.
Representatives for Macklemore, Sheeran, and the promoters AEG and the Messina Group did not respond to press inquiries about the petition. Sheeran himself has not commented.
