Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour will finish its US run without Macklemore. The Seattle rapper, who had been booked as support on eight of the ten remaining American dates, was pulled on Monday after several stadiums reportedly told promoters they would not host shows featuring him.
Messina Touring Group, which promotes the US leg, said venues had notified it that Macklemore would not be permitted to appear, and that his involvement risked cancelling the whole tour — a move that would have hit hundreds of thousands of ticket-holders. The venues said to have objected include Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, AT&T Stadium in Arlington and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The tour resumes Friday in Philadelphia.
The flashpoint was Macklemore's onstage activism. During two opening slots at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, he performed his protest track Hind's Hall wearing a keffiyeh, with footage from Gaza and the West Bank shown on stadium screens, and led chants for a free Palestine in front of crowds exceeding 80,000. An Israeli-American organisation subsequently petitioned for his removal from the tour.
In a social media post confirming his exit, Macklemore struck a measured tone about Sheeran, with whom he has a long friendship, saying he hoped it was not the end of their working relationship. He argued that musicians can absorb the consequences of speaking out — careers, money, safety — while "the victims are the Palestinian people," citing a figure of more than 20,000 children killed in Gaza.
For travellers, this matters mostly on a practical level: anyone heading to the remaining Loop Tour dates should expect the same line-up change, with Sheeran headlining solo for the rest of the US leg. It's also a reminder that big American stadium tours are increasingly caught up in political controversy, and support acts can change at short notice — worth checking the latest line-up before you plan a trip around a show. Tickets already purchased remain valid for the rescheduled line-up, and no dates have been cancelled.