Ed Sheeran Cowardly Boots Macklemore From Tour for Saying “Free Palestine”

One of the reasons why I wanted to come on this tour was because I wanted to stand up here on stages and stadiums across America 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 the people from Gaza all the way to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten them. You just heard from rapper McLemore, who is the opening act for singer songwriter Ed Sheeran, or was, I should say, because the comments that you just saw him make actually led to him being kicked off of Ed Sheeran's tour. You heard that right. After the entire country collectively had a conipion fit over cancel culture, a musician was just booted from a tour for daring to utter the words free Palestine. Why? Because he wanted to show support for a group of people being ethnically cleansed and genocided by Israel with American tax dollars. Yeah. Meanwhile, Kanye West, who literally has a song called How Hitler, is still selling out shows. Venues don't seem to have a problem with him performing there at all. Country music star Morgan Wallen sold out 23 stadiums in 12 different cities even though he said the n-word quote unquote playfully. Marilyn Manson is also selling out tours despite having been accused of sexual assault by multiple women. Chris Brown, as a matter of fact, was just presented with a congressional record of recognition at a show in Arlington, Texas by Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, even though he was convicted of felony assault against fellow musician Rihanna. But saying free Palestine, however, is apparently a bridge too far. And Ed Sheeran was warned by venues that if he didn't [ __ ] Can McLemore, then he'd also be persona nongrada. So he decided to cave. As Rolling Stone reports, Msina touring group, promoter of the US leg of Shiran's loop tour, said as the concert promoter for Ed Sheran's US loop tour. We have been notified by venues on the upcoming US tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with McLemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, McLemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates. McLemore was stated to appear at eight of the 10 shows left on the US leg of Shearan's tour, which is set to resume this Friday, September 19th, in Philadelphia. The venues that allegedly objected to the rapper include Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, MercedesBenz Stadium in Atlanta, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Which makes sense because we all know that the corporations that these stadiums are named after are the pinnacle of morality. But really, it was the stadiums who chose to draw the line in the sand here. And that really says so much about them, right? They're fine with racists and rapists and domestic abusers and even self-proclaimed Nazis, but they refuse to tolerate any opposition whatsoever to the ongoing Palestinian genocide. It is a decision that is so baffling, so morally bankrupt that one would have to assume that McLemore must have said something else that was inappropriate, right? Even if it was unintentional. But I can assure you that's not the case. After he said free Palestine, here's what else he said. And this next song was inspired by the bravery of Columbia University students who led an encampment movement that mobilized the entire world, opened up hearts, myself included. So, thank you to those students that risked their diplomas, that risked their tuition, that risked their scholarships, that stood up and said no. CUAD students, Students for Justice and Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace. Thank you guys to all of my Jewish brothers and sisters. Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you. My message is for peace, love, for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality. So I say free Palestine. I say free Lebanon. I say free Cuba. I say free Congo. Free Sudan. Free all people in America living in fear over this terrorist organization ICE. None of us will be free until we are all free. This song is called Hensall. >> So we're supposed to believe that McLemore is the bad guy for saying that. That's offensive apparently. Yeah. See, you're allowed to make vague gestures towards equality and justice in a late stage capitalist society. I would argue that it's even encouraged so that way you can uphold the facade that our society is still moral and just. But the second you start to speak about these issues with any sort of specificity whatsoever, well, that's when you've gone too far because you don't want to give people the impression that the system is bad because the status quo needs to be upheld, right? And the things that we do that destroy the world and destroy other countries, they're very, very profitable. Billionaires have investments in defense companies that are testing brand new weapons in Gaza that could prove to be really profitable one day. There's also a lot of really wealthy people with investments in the real estate industry that stand to gain a lot of money by building luxury hotels and resorts over the graves of Palestinians in Gaza. Those people are in the current regime in the White House. And these corporations, they save so much money by getting child slaves to mine cobalt for them in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So in 2026 America, I just want people to understand that you're allowed to condemn human rights abuses in so far as you only implicate enemies of the US and you never ever imply that America's global dictatorship is anything but altruistic. But you know, it's not always about money. Sometimes it's about geopolitics or ideology. Christian Zionists believe that Israel has to control all of the Middle East to usher in the end times. And there's also a lot of white supremacists who, let's be real, they want to make America the white version of Israel. They want their own apartheid ethnostate as well. But either way, if you don't unconditionally support a rogue apartheid state committing a genocide, the system is going to gaslight you into thinking that you are the bad guy. And that seems to be exactly how a billionaire got Ed Sheeran to drop McLemore on Instagram. Mcleammore actually shaded Shireen explaining this, writing, "Last Monday in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said at Metife. Ed told me that Robert Craft called him. We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Craft Group." Ed told me that Craft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Ed also told me that Craft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum. If McLemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues. Ed was in a [ __ ] up position. He knew it. His typical a-olitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had been before. He told me that the words free Palestine and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with. [ __ ] you, Edaran. I told him that if those words were more offensive than 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. But he couldn't get past his public facing I don't take sides. And I get why people don't. Taking a side can cost you. Money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships, and access. I've lost all of those things. But there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed. When one side has the bombs and bottomless financial and military support from America, refusing to take a side doesn't leave you in the middle. Exactly. Very well said by McLemore. And [ __ ] Ed Sheeran for being a spineless coward. How embarrassing for him. Even though he feels like he had no choice, he actually did. He could have just canceled the entire tour to show solidarity with McLemore and more importantly the Palestinian people who are the victims of an ongoing genocide. It is astonishing to me that it's the worst case scenario for them that hundreds of thousands of fans wouldn't be able to see Ed Sheeran. Okay, that would suck for them if they're excited, but I think getting the message out is more important, especially now that you've been presented with an opportunity after they tried to twist your arm, but you chose to be a little [ __ ] and you caved to the bad people, Ed. And I I can't think that like he's ignorant. He has to know right from wrong, but he chose to be a coward because he gets to continue with what he's doing. He gets to keep going on his tour and he can just, you know, move on. And that to me is so [ __ ] disgusting. And I just I hate how it's framed as if McLemore is the bigot here because his opposition to genocide was hurtful to people. What if opposing genocide is offensive to you? You can be offended because you're a bad [ __ ] person if you're not offended by genocide. And listen, I checked online and I saw that Chris Brown and Morgan Wallen both played at Gilllet Stadium. Did Robert Craft ever consider how platforming a domestic abuser would offend victims of domestic abuse? Did they ever consider how Morgan Wallen's concert was a slap in the face to black people in that city? Of course not, because they don't give a [ __ ] They're weaponizing social justice language to legitimize the most welldocumented genocide in human history. This goes beyond standard gaslighting. It is borderline sadistic. These people are [ __ ] sick. But as infuriating as the story is, McLemore is not the first artist that this has happened to. R&B singer Keelani's 2025 LGBTQ plus pride show was actually cancelled after then NYC Mayor Eric Adams threatened to revoke the license of the concert organizers if they didn't cancel the event. The move was made to punish her for opposing Palestinian genocide. And this isn't unique to America, by the way. The UK government tried to charge one of the rappers of Ncap with terrorism before the case was ultimately thrown out, thankfully. Also, the frontman of Bob Villain was deported from Germany after he led an anti-Israel chant at one of his concerts. Now, this isn't even just unique to music. Legendary actress Susan Sandon was dropped by her talent agency back in 2023 for opposing genocide. And she recently said that she still is struggling to land movie roles because of her opposition to genocide. And she's not alone. Actress Melissa Bara was fired from her starring role in Scream 7 after Spyglass Entertainment accused her of anti-semitism because she condemned Israel's genocide of Palestine. In other words, unless you keep quiet about your opposition to genocide or you vocally support it explicitly, the machine is going to chew you up and spit you out, even if a majority of the population agrees with you that genocide is in fact bad. But it doesn't matter because American institutions, both governmental and non-governmental alike, have all agreed to punish people for opposing genocide and aparttheid, even if that violates the first amendment brazenly. Though I say this because 38 states have anti-BDS laws in effect that punish citizens for boycotting and in some cases just criticizing the apartheid state of Israel. You can literally call for a boycott of America in all 50 states, but in 38 states you're not allowed to criticize this particular foreign government. How does that make sense? How is that constitutional? The answer is it's not. In some of these cases, you have to sign a loyalty pledge to Israel, a foreign government, to get a state contract. That's how comical the situation is. And the crackdown on speech is only going to get worse now that the sentiment towards Israel is changing. Because rather than just like aligning with the Democratic majority, they're going to crack down. And when I say they, I mean the system, media, politicians, governments around the world because they are going to do what they need to do to uphold the status quo even if that violates democracy and democratic norms. But this cancellation for McLemore, it didn't just come out of nowhere because for weeks there was the pressure campaign on Ed Sheeran to kick him off of the tour. On September 6th, the ADL tweeted Ed Sheeran's fans came for a concert, not performative, biased, and hateful anti-Israel quote activism from his opener McLemore. Imagine being a Jewish or Israeli fan who came with family or friends to enjoy the show only to be confronted with this hostility from the stage. Oh, the hostility being genocide bad. Now, you saw what McLemore actually said. In no way was he hostile towards Jewish people. He was condemning the actions of the Israeli government and our government's complicity with their genocide. But in case you were wondering how the ADL responded to actual anti-semitism, specifically when Elon Musk did two Hitler salutes at Trump's uh inauguration. Let's see what they said about that. This is a delicate moment. It's a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed and social media only adds to the anxiety. It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm. Not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let's hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead. And as you can see, Elon Musk was very pleased by their defense of him. And to this day, he continues to retweet and engage with white supremacists and Nazis. and he literally parrots the anti-semitic great replacement conspiracy theory. But yet he gets all the charitability in the world from the so-called anti-defamation league. But McLemore can say free Palestine and zero charitability, zero grace there. It's like a sick [ __ ] joke. But groups like the so-called Anti-Defamation League save their eye for the people who oppose genocide because they don't actually care about anti-semitism. They care about defending the apartheid state of Israel. And I'm sure by now you've probably heard about how washedup singer Pink also condemned McLemore by retweeting an attack on him by the right-wing group Stop Stop Anti-semitism, which also doesn't care about anti-semitism, they care about defending Israel. And the thing that's so hilarious to me about this whole kurfuffle with Pink in particular, is that it blew the [ __ ] up in her face because instead of inciting criticism against McLemore, which is what she intended to do, people were dogpiling on her for indirectly endorsing a [ __ ] genocide. So she ended up responding with this unnecessarily long screed where she centers herself and makes herself the main character and tries to plate the people who were outraged by her condemning someone for condemning a genocide. And I'm not going to read it to you because it's as vapid as you would expect. But I will show you Rosie O'Donnell's reaction to Pink because she kind of vocalized how most normal people feel about this entire situation, especially Pink's bizarre response from somebody who claims to be a social justice activist. But here's what Rosie said. >> Those are our bombs. that Israel is dropping in Gaza. And you know the pink thing with Mmore color me shocked, absolutely shocked. And uh I would love to hear her speak about this apparent change of heart that she's had. Mmore is a brave and bold social activist rapper and uh I don't understand why someone saying we should not have genocide in the world anywhere is offensive to anyone. I really can't. But maybe that's just me. >> Rosie, you'll have to forgive me for not being familiar with your game because uh that was incredible and I feel the exact same way. And she's somebody who would stand to gain a lot by zipping her lips right now. You know, it would behoove for her to be quiet because she's trying to rehabilitate her career and make a comeback, but she's choosing not to do that because she actually cares about these issues. She cares about human beings. And listen, I'm making a mental note of all the celebrities who are conspicuously silent right now. Hell, celebrity or not, I'm taking note of anybody who's not speaking up and condemning genocide. Because if you are silent, you are complicit. Because if you ever wondered what you would have done if you were alive during the Holocaust, you're doing it right now. You see, it's easy to take a side when it's all been adjudicated by history. As Omar Elakod put it, "One day, everyone will have always been against this. It's the title of the book that I keep behind me." And the reason why that's the case is because once everybody comes to the collective realization that what's happening in Palestine right now is in fact a genocide, nobody is going to risk losing opportunities or risk sacrificing their career for stating the obvious and condemning it. That doesn't take any courage. But it does however take courage to take a stand for something when it's unpopular to do so. When you do actually have something to lose by taking said stand. When your moral conviction is so strong that you refuse to allow yourself to be complicit through your silence, that says something about your character. And a lot of people are showing us right now who they are. Spineless [ __ ] cowards. The question is, are we going to be the kind of people who get on the right side of history after it's already been decided? Or are we going to stand for what's right regardless of the consequences? I know what side I'm on, and I'm not going to forget the people like Pink and Ed Sheeran who chose comfort and convenience over humanity. That to me is unforgivable. Those of us who are on the right side of history, need to make sure that the people only temporarily on the wrong side of history, who are going to one day pretend like they were right all along, live with that shame for the rest of their pathetic [ __ ] lives.