Sept. 15, 2026
Ed Sheeran Drops Macklemore From Tour After Threats Of Stadium Boycotts; Macklemore Doubles Down
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RSS Feed Macklemore has fired back after being dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour. Macklemore says New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft organized a boycott with several stadium owners over his “Free Palestine” statements. Macklemore opened for Sheeran in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium earlier this month where the rapper used the stage to say those two words and extend sympathies to the people of Gaza before he performed his protest song, “Hind’s Hall.” The Israeli American Council then issued a statement asking Sheeran, tour leadership and all venues hosting the tour to remove Macklemore from the tour.
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00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, September 15th. Ed Sheeran needs a new opening act. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Folks, I'll give you credit. You saw this coming. The writing was on the wall immediately for you. But yes, it's finally happened. Macklemore is off Ed Sheeran's tour.
00:00:19
Speaker 2: Well, once you hear from the largest Israeli-American nonprofit organization making no bones about.
00:00:29
Speaker 3: It and directly.
00:00:32
Speaker 2: asking not only Ed Sheeran, but asking any stadium owner, anyone who was a part of this tour to stand up against Macklemore for what he said at the concert at MetLife, I knew this was over.
00:00:46
Speaker 1: And Robes, how is it that one of the most influential owners and successful owners in NFL history was right in the middle of this whole thing? Robes, I wish, I wish, A different conversation could have been had throughout all this. It didn't happen. It was one of those things. He said something. We didn't like it. Now we're going to shut you down. I know, Rob, is there any more heated, more passionate debate that goes on in public other than this Israeli-Palestinian issue? It's just hard to have, I guess, conversation. reasoned sometimes or sometimes not angry conversations about this. He stepped in something and the response was just instant robes that he must be removed. And now let's have a conversation after all this has taken place. I don't know. I just, I just, another example robes of when something like this comes up, we don't seem to be having an talking to each other.
00:01:52
Speaker 2: Right. And I guess the issue is, can you support the Palestinian people? Can you be upset about what happened to Palestinian children without being anti-Jewish?
00:02:04
Speaker 1: The answer should be yes, right?
00:02:05
Speaker 3: I would hope it would be.
00:02:07
Speaker 2: I would hope you could be somebody who is promoting peace on both sides, on all sides, and wanting to draw attention to some of the atrocities that we've all seen Palestinian families and children face and without being labeled anti-Semitic.
00:02:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess, Robes, the issue here, as we'll get into, it's if you show compassion for Palestinians, then you're in some way criticizing the Israeli response. You're saying it's their fault that these people are suffering. You're not putting it all back on Hamas. That's what the argument is of something having to do with context. But if you just say out loud, I don't want another Palestinian child to die. That is, Robes, what haven't we seen? If you don't couple that with Hamas is bad and Israeli people are suffering, that is often deemed anti-Semitic, is it not? Yes.
00:03:03
Speaker 3: Yes, that is the answer.
00:03:04
Speaker 2: And that's certainly what appears to have taken place. And Macklemore wasn't backing down at all. Not even a little bit. Not even after he was removed from the tour. And he knew very well.
00:03:15
Speaker 3: I mean, he had suffered.
00:03:16
Speaker 2: Backlash before by saying what he said on that stage previously where he said free Palestine and where he let his feelings known. He has lost opportunities.
00:03:30
Speaker 1: And Robes, he actually didn't say anything on stage at MetLife that he hasn't said plenty of times before. He even backed it off, you could argue, compared to some other things he's done. But given the stage, given the international star he was opening for, Things took a different turn. So tell me the date of the concert because you and I were there that weekend.
00:03:48
Speaker 3: September 4th.
00:03:49
Speaker 1: September 4th. I thought it was 5th for us. Did we go 4th?
00:03:52
Speaker 3: I thought we went on the 4th, which was the Friday night.
00:03:55
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:03:55
Speaker 3: Do I have my dates correct?
00:03:56
Speaker 1: 4th and 5th. Yeah, you got it right. He performed 4th and 5th.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:03:59
Speaker 1: Correct. Two nights there. We had, this was a Christmas gift that paid off eight months later. Fine. Butt Robes got me tickets to Ed Sheeran. Love Ed Sheeran. We didn't realize Macklemore was opening. We decided we were going to go. We wanted to see Macklemore. I've seen him in concert before. Love his shows.
00:04:14
Speaker 2: We tried to time it out to get there when Macklemore took the stage.
00:04:17
Speaker 1: But?
00:04:19
Speaker 2: Public transit is a nightmare. And the other, we tried to look at what we could do with a car.
00:04:26
Speaker 3: We're like, how many miles? Did I do the math?
00:04:29
Speaker 1: We could damn near see MetLife. It's like 700.
00:04:31
Speaker 2: It's less than 10 miles from our apartment. And so, yes, to order a car, it was going to cost $ 900. That's a true story, people. $ 900 round trip to go 10 miles. And we figured it was going to take two and a half hours each way. So five hours in the car, $ 900 to go 10 miles. So we're like, obviously, we're going to take public transit. Didn't realize it required three trains where you had to switch, wait for the train, and then get packed in a way that you cannot imagine.
00:05:00
Speaker 1: So the train took us how long?
00:05:02
Speaker 2: About an hour plus, and then there's a lot of walking to get to the stadium.
00:05:05
Speaker 3: So it was an hour and a half trip for us.
00:05:08
Speaker 1: I just confirmed it's 7.8 miles from where we sit to MetLife Stadium.
00:05:14
Speaker 3: Isn't that crazy?
00:05:15
Speaker 1: Everywhere else we lived in our lives, 7.8 miles should take you eight minutes to drive there.
00:05:19
Speaker 2: Right?
00:05:20
Speaker 3: Exactly.
00:05:20
Speaker 2: So I planned, I figured mass transit would take about an hour or so. It ended up taking, honestly, closer to two.
00:05:26
Speaker 3: Hours just because of all the wait times and all the packed trains and stuff. Yeah.
00:05:31
Speaker 1: How much was the car again? I'm just laughing.
00:05:32
Speaker 3: $ 900.
00:05:33
Speaker 2: It was actually $ 875 before tip.
00:05:36
Speaker 1: Round trip.
00:05:37
Speaker 3: Round trip. You could only do round trip. They wouldn't let you do one way.
00:05:40
Speaker 1: 15 miles it would have been.
00:05:42
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:05:42
Speaker 1: 16 miles. $ 900. Okay. Anyway, this is what it's like in New York sometimes. But hey, all right. So at that concert, we missed it, or missed at least Macklemore that night, but didn't realize all the hubbub he had caused and that things were going to go viral and the video was made its way around social media. Now, this is what he had. Do you have it up in front of you, Robe?
00:06:01
Speaker 2: I do.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: This is what he actually said on stage that kind of got all of this stuff going.
00:06:05
Speaker 2: A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart.
00:06:15
Speaker 3: Free Palestine. I said, free Palestine.
00:06:19
Speaker 2: I want those words to be loud and clear so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.
00:06:27
Speaker 1: He made some other comments, remember, about his daughter and wanting to make sure his child I can grow up in safety, and he doesn't have to be fearful for her the way people in Gaza are. Okay, he made that statement. He performed his protest song as well, and that was it. Now, people went on social media. They did take some issue with it, but it really got going, Rob. It got the attention of the Israeli-American Council. It was put out a long statement calling on not just Macklemore to do different, but also wanting Ed Sheeran to kick him off the tour. They put out a long statement saying, that the issue wasn't whether Macklemore has a right to his political views. The question is, this is how they put it, where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda. I guess, Rove, they just took issue with him not giving some fuller story that they think should be there.
00:07:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they also made it clear, and this was so interesting to me because this is Ed Sheeran's concert. This is Ed Sheeran's tour of And they made that point. This was an Ed Sheeran concert, not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event. But if Ed Sheeran asked Macklemore, his friend of more than a decade, to be a part of the tour, knowing that Macklemore had made the comments he'd made before, he was clearly okay with what Macklemore was choosing to do with his time on stage with his art.
00:07:51
Speaker 1: And was aware.
00:07:52
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:07:52
Speaker 1: It was no secret, right? And it wasn't just a comment he made. There were videos that accompanied it. So this was understood and known, but they called on Sheeran and all tour venues to not continue to let Ed Sheeran show up for his tour dates if Macklemore was going to be on the damn set list, if you will. Not set list. What do you call it? On the lineup. Excuse me.
00:08:15
Speaker 3: I was going with roster.
00:08:16
Speaker 2: I wasn't sure what the folks call it in the concert world.
00:08:20
Speaker 1: So we did hear finally from the promoter yesterday putting out a statement saying that they were They've been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates. So, Rose, Macklemore, and you saw me frustrated this morning because I was trying to get the whole thing, the whole transcript. Macklemore put out one of the longest Instagram statements I've ever seen. And he had a lot to say and a lot to explain. And like you said, Robes, he stood by his stance. But I don't know. He felt like he needed to say all this. And I don't know how other people will feel about it, but I know how I feel about it. But we're going to share in full what his statement said here.
00:09:10
Speaker 2: I'm not sure how to start this, so I'm going to speak from the heart and share the truth. Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from the Loop Tour. Before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious. In this moment, I think it matters. I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety, and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.
00:09:42
Speaker 1: And to stop there, but Pink had come out immediately. She's putting out Two statements now, but she made one early that was critical of things that Macklemore had said on stage and things he's done in the past that I would certainly say went too far. Yes. But she was critical and that's why he had her name in there.
00:09:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, she reposted.
00:10:00
Speaker 2: Something that was critical of his, and then she actually came back and clarified. She said, I've been quiet in my own words for a week, which you know isn't like me, so here they are. She said that Macklemore said things in words I didn't write, and I wouldn't have chosen all of them. She said the video that she posted said things that she wouldn't have said. So she was actually trying to back Macklemore. backpedal a little bit. And she said, a repost isn't a statement. I'd rather be disagreed with for what I actually said than hated for what anybody else wrote. So let me say it. She just said, I was born a Jew. I didn't pick it. I've never hidden it. And so she just talked about how she just had her feelings based on that. So that's what he was referencing in his statement. Um, so he goes on to say here in his comments, the victims are the Palestinian people, the men, women, and children who have been killed, starved, displaced, and forced to live through unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don't lose sight of that.
00:11:11
Speaker 3: So he's still sticking to his story. I guess his mission, so to speak. He's really taken this on.
00:11:18
Speaker 1: And I guess, Robes, up to this point, he hasn't said anything that's wrong. It's that what he's saying, folks want the context that the reason these folks are dying is because Hamas has put the Israeli people and the Israeli government in a position that they have to defend themselves. This is the context people want all the time. But what he's saying is not untrue. If 20,000 kids are dead, I'm sad about that. Period. Am I anti-Semitic by stopping my sentence there? It's too much of the debate. I can't just weep for Palestinian children the same I weep for Israeli children. I guess just some cooler heads. I can't get into Palestinians and Jewish folks, folks growing up in that conflict. I can't ever try to pretend to relate that pain and that passion. I would like to talk about it, and I would like to be able to say to both sides, I'm sorry for what you're going through, without being labeled by the other side as being too sympathetic to one side. Isn't it?
00:12:22
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:12:23
Speaker 3: This is.
00:12:25
Speaker 1: It's hard, man. It is.
00:12:27
Speaker 3: It's deep-rooted, and it's just... This is.
00:12:31
Speaker 2: A tough, tough situation that is exposing what feels like an impossible conversation to have.
00:12:38
Speaker 1: But we can just... be decent for it i mean okay let's continue with him here he said ed is my friend i've known him 13 years we shared late night studio sessions stages he has this infectious magic about him that i've grown to love i consider him a brother and because of that we've had some difficult conversations this past week the type of talk rooted in love and respect for one another that still end in a place of fundamental disagreement man we need to take that sentence and use it all the time yes folks talks rooted in love and respect but still end in disagreement Wow. Nothing I'm writing here is out of spite or because I want to tear down his character. But as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can't change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened. Last Monday, in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said at MetLife, Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him. We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft Group. Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively gave him an ultimatum. If Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues. Wow. And simple as that, bro. That's the end up. What is Ed supposed to do?
00:13:51
Speaker 2: Yes. And I forgot, apologize for forgetting the name of the Jewish organization. But when they said they were going to be contacting... The venues and the venues owners, that's when you thought they know what they're doing. They know how to shut this down. Ed Sheeran might not have felt the pressure singularly from this group. But when you start having now stadium owners say, you can't play in our stadium, what are.
00:14:16
Speaker 3: You supposed to do?
00:14:17
Speaker 1: They're canceling his tour for him. Yes.
00:14:19
Speaker 2: So Macklemore even acknowledges this as he goes on. He says, Ed was in a fucked up position.
00:14:24
Speaker 3: He knew it.
00:14:24
Speaker 2: His typical apolitical 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. I told him that if those words were more offensive, then 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. Don't take sides.
00:14:54
Speaker 1: And he goes on, I get why people don't. Taking a side can cost you money, brand deals, sponsorship, 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 bombs and bottomless financial and military support from America, refusing to take a side doesn't leave you in the middle. And that is where he will lose most people. Oppressed and oppressor. Oppressed and oppressor. Israelis, Jewish folks here, they're never going to be on board with that characterization.
00:15:29
Speaker 3: Yes, because they would argue that they have been the oppressed.
00:15:34
Speaker 1: For hundreds, thousands.
00:15:36
Speaker 3: Yes, thousands of years. Historically speaking, yes.
00:15:41
Speaker 2: Macklemore continues, what I said at MetLife, I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years.
00:15:47
Speaker 3: So why is it an issue now?
00:15:49
Speaker 2: Because now I'm sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America. At a certain level of exposure, Free Palestine becomes too much of a risk. If I kept doing the shows, saying Free Palestine, with Ed implicitly supporting it, the crowd getting loud and showing undeniable support for Palestinian liberation, what artist might speak up next? The stage becomes resistance. Maybe that's why this time it became so important to silence me.
00:16:19
Speaker 1: The stage became resistance. Look, Robes, Ed, that's the thing. They put the pressure on Robes. He's one of the top, maybe five, but certainly top ten streaming artists. I mean, he just rules Spotify. He's one of the biggest.
00:16:34
Speaker 3: Who doesn't like Ed Sheeran?
00:16:36
Speaker 1: Everybody likes him.
00:16:36
Speaker 3: We even talked about it.
00:16:37
Speaker 2: At the concert, I've never seen such a diversity in crowd, in age, in gender, in ethnicity.
00:16:44
Speaker 3: It was really cool. This is a guy who... who brings all those folks together. So now if you have.
00:16:50
Speaker 2: Somebody opening your act that is dividing people, that's a tough position to be in.
00:16:56
Speaker 1: And yeah, by not saying anything, he was seen as supporting what this dude was doing.
00:17:02
Speaker 3: Implicit support.
00:17:03
Speaker 1: All right, well, stay with us. We're going to read the rest of his statement, which includes, includes an important line about what he thinks has happened to him now and how we get from that to anti-Semitism. Also, we want you to hear Robert Kraft's response.
00:17:29
Speaker 2: Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. We continue with Macklemore's Instagram, lengthy Instagram statement, and he goes on to say, one of the most effective ways to enforce that silence has been to weaponize the accusation of anti-Semitism.
00:17:44
Speaker 3: This is what we were just talking about.
00:17:46
Speaker 2: Anti-Semitism is real, and that is exactly why the word matters too much to be used as a shield against criticism of the Israeli state. When criticizing Israel, opposing Zionism, or saying free Palestine gets conflated with hatred of Jewish people, it doesn't protect Jewish people, It protects Israel from accountability. He goes on to say he hopes it isn't the end of his relationship with Ed. He said he hopes 13 years of friendship doesn't disappear because of one painful disagreement. He says his door will always be opening to continue the conversation. And he talks about cancel culture and all of that. But I thought this next part was really, really interesting. He says, I didn't need 10 shows from Ed.
00:18:30
Speaker 3: I needed two.
00:18:31
Speaker 2: Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say.
00:18:38
Speaker 3: Free Palestine. But if those words cost me the stage while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I've ever been on.
00:18:49
Speaker 1: Maybe that's how he sees it, Robes. He has more of an agenda than music. He has.
00:18:55
Speaker 1: A way to get, look, people are talking about him to talk about this. Maybe people are looking into this a little more or people just hearing this and we're fighting a little more, right? Does this move the needle any way, one way or another? Does it help us have better conversations about it? It doesn't feel that way.
00:19:10
Speaker 3: No, it feels even more divisive is what it feels like.
00:19:13
Speaker 2: He ends by saying the victims are the Palestinian people, the men, women, and children who have been killed, starved, displaced, and forced to live through unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today and people will be killed tomorrow. I wanted to make sure that as I tell this story, we don't lose.
00:19:34
Speaker 3: Sight of that.
00:19:37
Speaker 1: Robes, I just want to try to leave space for somebody that has their beliefs and how convicted they might be in those beliefs and what's in his heart. It's just never, ever, ever. And even if people agree with some of what he's saying and do sympathize with people and children in Gaza, Robes, you're just not going to get people on your side if you're yelling that Jews are oppressors. You're just, that's not going to get you anywhere. Nobody's going to listen to your next sentence if you lead with that. He didn't lead with it, but it's in there. It's in there.
00:20:09
Speaker 3: It's in there. I just checked.
00:20:10
Speaker 2: He has 5.1 million likes.
00:20:15
Speaker 3: On that post right now. So it's certainly garnered a significant amount of attention.
00:20:21
Speaker 1: Okay, and we'll wrap here with Robert Kraft. Of course, long time New England Patriots owner, very powerful and influential guy when it comes to not just sports, not just football, but also just in entertainment. A lot of concerts go through has been used up there in Boston. Robes, I appreciated his statement, and then it broke my heart as well. So we're going to read this to you in full as well. Robes, you got it for me?
00:20:49
Speaker 2: I do.
00:20:49
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:20:50
Speaker 2: It reads, based on McLemore's recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, We determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line. This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf. Their pain and loss are real, but that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas.
00:21:32
Speaker 3: I agree with McLemore.
00:21:33
Speaker 2: Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering, but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate. 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.
00:22:01
Speaker 1: Last line broke my heart, baby. Because welcome the opportunity to sit down. Is there any chance we could have done that ahead of time? Do you instantly, we automatically cancel you? Okay, and then we'll talk about it.
00:22:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to cancel you, shame you, punish you. But now let's talk.
00:22:18
Speaker 1: I get where he's coming. And that part, it actually felt sincere to me, babe. It felt like he would sit down, have a conversation. He's talking about things they agree on. Yes, too many lives have been lost. Like, if we can get to that place where we agree, but still publicly, it's a clash. And you got to take sides. And you got to fight. And you got to cancel. And it's got to be absolute, one or the other. I just, I don't know, babe. And it's too much emotion, maybe. But that's a reasoned, measured response.
00:22:49
Speaker 3: Agreed.
00:22:50
Speaker 1: If any kind of outreach, maybe it did happen. It didn't seem like it, because I think Macklemore would have told us if he talked to Robert Kraft, wouldn't he?
00:22:56
Speaker 3: I believe he would have, yes.
00:22:57
Speaker 1: If there was an opportunity to sit down, and maybe you could have said, we had a discussion, and he agreed that what happened, and this time, and Gillette is going to look different, and I made some agreement. But then after the fact, we all agree, but oh well, you still gots to go. I thought there was an opportunity there.
00:23:17
Speaker 3: Well, the question is, was the offer real or genuine?
00:23:20
Speaker 2: Which?
00:23:21
Speaker 1: Which? No, he said he welcomes the opportunity. He didn't say he extended one.
00:23:27
Speaker 3: And there is a difference, and that word choice was specific.
00:23:29
Speaker 1: If I see him in an airport bar.
00:23:32
Speaker 3: I would welcome it if it ever happened, like just by chance.
00:23:36
Speaker 1: Maybe I say, I agree with Macklemore. Too many lives have been lost. Let's start with what we agree with, and let's expand until we get to the part we disagree with. We just never start with where we agree. We start with where we disagree, and now we're working backwards. That's just too bad. I read that and thought, man, that was an opportunity there.
00:23:55
Speaker 3: Well, he welcomes the next one.
00:23:57
Speaker 1: He welcomes the next one.
00:23:58
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:23:59
Speaker 1: All right, folks, that's the update. Macklemore is out on the Ed Sheeran tour. They're playing Gillette. What is this? Today is the what?
00:24:06
Speaker 3: Today is the 15th, so in nine days.
00:24:09
Speaker 1: So Ed is in Philly on the 19th. And then going to Gillette after that. I guess Roe's too bad. We missed him because that was the last opportunity.
00:24:20
Speaker 3: Damn, I can't. Dang, New Jersey Transit. That's who we're going to blame.
00:24:25
Speaker 1: Okay, well, folks, appreciate you as always. I'm TJ. That's Roe. We'll talk soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Tuesday, September 15th. Ed Sheeran needs a new opening act. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Folks, I'll give you credit. You saw this coming. The writing was on the wall immediately for you. But yes, it's finally happened. Macklemore is off Ed Sheeran's tour.
00:00:19
Speaker 2: Well, once you hear from the largest Israeli-American nonprofit organization making no bones about.
00:00:29
Speaker 3: It and directly.
00:00:32
Speaker 2: asking not only Ed Sheeran, but asking any stadium owner, anyone who was a part of this tour to stand up against Macklemore for what he said at the concert at MetLife, I knew this was over.
00:00:46
Speaker 1: And Robes, how is it that one of the most influential owners and successful owners in NFL history was right in the middle of this whole thing? Robes, I wish, I wish, A different conversation could have been had throughout all this. It didn't happen. It was one of those things. He said something. We didn't like it. Now we're going to shut you down. I know, Rob, is there any more heated, more passionate debate that goes on in public other than this Israeli-Palestinian issue? It's just hard to have, I guess, conversation. reasoned sometimes or sometimes not angry conversations about this. He stepped in something and the response was just instant robes that he must be removed. And now let's have a conversation after all this has taken place. I don't know. I just, I just, another example robes of when something like this comes up, we don't seem to be having an talking to each other.
00:01:52
Speaker 2: Right. And I guess the issue is, can you support the Palestinian people? Can you be upset about what happened to Palestinian children without being anti-Jewish?
00:02:04
Speaker 1: The answer should be yes, right?
00:02:05
Speaker 3: I would hope it would be.
00:02:07
Speaker 2: I would hope you could be somebody who is promoting peace on both sides, on all sides, and wanting to draw attention to some of the atrocities that we've all seen Palestinian families and children face and without being labeled anti-Semitic.
00:02:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess, Robes, the issue here, as we'll get into, it's if you show compassion for Palestinians, then you're in some way criticizing the Israeli response. You're saying it's their fault that these people are suffering. You're not putting it all back on Hamas. That's what the argument is of something having to do with context. But if you just say out loud, I don't want another Palestinian child to die. That is, Robes, what haven't we seen? If you don't couple that with Hamas is bad and Israeli people are suffering, that is often deemed anti-Semitic, is it not? Yes.
00:03:03
Speaker 3: Yes, that is the answer.
00:03:04
Speaker 2: And that's certainly what appears to have taken place. And Macklemore wasn't backing down at all. Not even a little bit. Not even after he was removed from the tour. And he knew very well.
00:03:15
Speaker 3: I mean, he had suffered.
00:03:16
Speaker 2: Backlash before by saying what he said on that stage previously where he said free Palestine and where he let his feelings known. He has lost opportunities.
00:03:30
Speaker 1: And Robes, he actually didn't say anything on stage at MetLife that he hasn't said plenty of times before. He even backed it off, you could argue, compared to some other things he's done. But given the stage, given the international star he was opening for, Things took a different turn. So tell me the date of the concert because you and I were there that weekend.
00:03:48
Speaker 3: September 4th.
00:03:49
Speaker 1: September 4th. I thought it was 5th for us. Did we go 4th?
00:03:52
Speaker 3: I thought we went on the 4th, which was the Friday night.
00:03:55
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:03:55
Speaker 3: Do I have my dates correct?
00:03:56
Speaker 1: 4th and 5th. Yeah, you got it right. He performed 4th and 5th.
00:03:59
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:03:59
Speaker 1: Correct. Two nights there. We had, this was a Christmas gift that paid off eight months later. Fine. Butt Robes got me tickets to Ed Sheeran. Love Ed Sheeran. We didn't realize Macklemore was opening. We decided we were going to go. We wanted to see Macklemore. I've seen him in concert before. Love his shows.
00:04:14
Speaker 2: We tried to time it out to get there when Macklemore took the stage.
00:04:17
Speaker 1: But?
00:04:19
Speaker 2: Public transit is a nightmare. And the other, we tried to look at what we could do with a car.
00:04:26
Speaker 3: We're like, how many miles? Did I do the math?
00:04:29
Speaker 1: We could damn near see MetLife. It's like 700.
00:04:31
Speaker 2: It's less than 10 miles from our apartment. And so, yes, to order a car, it was going to cost $ 900. That's a true story, people. $ 900 round trip to go 10 miles. And we figured it was going to take two and a half hours each way. So five hours in the car, $ 900 to go 10 miles. So we're like, obviously, we're going to take public transit. Didn't realize it required three trains where you had to switch, wait for the train, and then get packed in a way that you cannot imagine.
00:05:00
Speaker 1: So the train took us how long?
00:05:02
Speaker 2: About an hour plus, and then there's a lot of walking to get to the stadium.
00:05:05
Speaker 3: So it was an hour and a half trip for us.
00:05:08
Speaker 1: I just confirmed it's 7.8 miles from where we sit to MetLife Stadium.
00:05:14
Speaker 3: Isn't that crazy?
00:05:15
Speaker 1: Everywhere else we lived in our lives, 7.8 miles should take you eight minutes to drive there.
00:05:19
Speaker 2: Right?
00:05:20
Speaker 3: Exactly.
00:05:20
Speaker 2: So I planned, I figured mass transit would take about an hour or so. It ended up taking, honestly, closer to two.
00:05:26
Speaker 3: Hours just because of all the wait times and all the packed trains and stuff. Yeah.
00:05:31
Speaker 1: How much was the car again? I'm just laughing.
00:05:32
Speaker 3: $ 900.
00:05:33
Speaker 2: It was actually $ 875 before tip.
00:05:36
Speaker 1: Round trip.
00:05:37
Speaker 3: Round trip. You could only do round trip. They wouldn't let you do one way.
00:05:40
Speaker 1: 15 miles it would have been.
00:05:42
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:05:42
Speaker 1: 16 miles. $ 900. Okay. Anyway, this is what it's like in New York sometimes. But hey, all right. So at that concert, we missed it, or missed at least Macklemore that night, but didn't realize all the hubbub he had caused and that things were going to go viral and the video was made its way around social media. Now, this is what he had. Do you have it up in front of you, Robe?
00:06:01
Speaker 2: I do.
00:06:01
Speaker 1: This is what he actually said on stage that kind of got all of this stuff going.
00:06:05
Speaker 2: A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart.
00:06:15
Speaker 3: Free Palestine. I said, free Palestine.
00:06:19
Speaker 2: I want those words to be loud and clear so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.
00:06:27
Speaker 1: He made some other comments, remember, about his daughter and wanting to make sure his child I can grow up in safety, and he doesn't have to be fearful for her the way people in Gaza are. Okay, he made that statement. He performed his protest song as well, and that was it. Now, people went on social media. They did take some issue with it, but it really got going, Rob. It got the attention of the Israeli-American Council. It was put out a long statement calling on not just Macklemore to do different, but also wanting Ed Sheeran to kick him off the tour. They put out a long statement saying, that the issue wasn't whether Macklemore has a right to his political views. The question is, this is how they put it, where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda. I guess, Rove, they just took issue with him not giving some fuller story that they think should be there.
00:07:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they also made it clear, and this was so interesting to me because this is Ed Sheeran's concert. This is Ed Sheeran's tour of And they made that point. This was an Ed Sheeran concert, not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event. But if Ed Sheeran asked Macklemore, his friend of more than a decade, to be a part of the tour, knowing that Macklemore had made the comments he'd made before, he was clearly okay with what Macklemore was choosing to do with his time on stage with his art.
00:07:51
Speaker 1: And was aware.
00:07:52
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:07:52
Speaker 1: It was no secret, right? And it wasn't just a comment he made. There were videos that accompanied it. So this was understood and known, but they called on Sheeran and all tour venues to not continue to let Ed Sheeran show up for his tour dates if Macklemore was going to be on the damn set list, if you will. Not set list. What do you call it? On the lineup. Excuse me.
00:08:15
Speaker 3: I was going with roster.
00:08:16
Speaker 2: I wasn't sure what the folks call it in the concert world.
00:08:20
Speaker 1: So we did hear finally from the promoter yesterday putting out a statement saying that they were They've been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates. So, Rose, Macklemore, and you saw me frustrated this morning because I was trying to get the whole thing, the whole transcript. Macklemore put out one of the longest Instagram statements I've ever seen. And he had a lot to say and a lot to explain. And like you said, Robes, he stood by his stance. But I don't know. He felt like he needed to say all this. And I don't know how other people will feel about it, but I know how I feel about it. But we're going to share in full what his statement said here.
00:09:10
Speaker 2: I'm not sure how to start this, so I'm going to speak from the heart and share the truth. Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from the Loop Tour. Before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious. In this moment, I think it matters. I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety, and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.
00:09:42
Speaker 1: And to stop there, but Pink had come out immediately. She's putting out Two statements now, but she made one early that was critical of things that Macklemore had said on stage and things he's done in the past that I would certainly say went too far. Yes. But she was critical and that's why he had her name in there.
00:09:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, she reposted.
00:10:00
Speaker 2: Something that was critical of his, and then she actually came back and clarified. She said, I've been quiet in my own words for a week, which you know isn't like me, so here they are. She said that Macklemore said things in words I didn't write, and I wouldn't have chosen all of them. She said the video that she posted said things that she wouldn't have said. So she was actually trying to back Macklemore. backpedal a little bit. And she said, a repost isn't a statement. I'd rather be disagreed with for what I actually said than hated for what anybody else wrote. So let me say it. She just said, I was born a Jew. I didn't pick it. I've never hidden it. And so she just talked about how she just had her feelings based on that. So that's what he was referencing in his statement. Um, so he goes on to say here in his comments, the victims are the Palestinian people, the men, women, and children who have been killed, starved, displaced, and forced to live through unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don't lose sight of that.
00:11:11
Speaker 3: So he's still sticking to his story. I guess his mission, so to speak. He's really taken this on.
00:11:18
Speaker 1: And I guess, Robes, up to this point, he hasn't said anything that's wrong. It's that what he's saying, folks want the context that the reason these folks are dying is because Hamas has put the Israeli people and the Israeli government in a position that they have to defend themselves. This is the context people want all the time. But what he's saying is not untrue. If 20,000 kids are dead, I'm sad about that. Period. Am I anti-Semitic by stopping my sentence there? It's too much of the debate. I can't just weep for Palestinian children the same I weep for Israeli children. I guess just some cooler heads. I can't get into Palestinians and Jewish folks, folks growing up in that conflict. I can't ever try to pretend to relate that pain and that passion. I would like to talk about it, and I would like to be able to say to both sides, I'm sorry for what you're going through, without being labeled by the other side as being too sympathetic to one side. Isn't it?
00:12:22
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:12:23
Speaker 3: This is.
00:12:25
Speaker 1: It's hard, man. It is.
00:12:27
Speaker 3: It's deep-rooted, and it's just... This is.
00:12:31
Speaker 2: A tough, tough situation that is exposing what feels like an impossible conversation to have.
00:12:38
Speaker 1: But we can just... be decent for it i mean okay let's continue with him here he said ed is my friend i've known him 13 years we shared late night studio sessions stages he has this infectious magic about him that i've grown to love i consider him a brother and because of that we've had some difficult conversations this past week the type of talk rooted in love and respect for one another that still end in a place of fundamental disagreement man we need to take that sentence and use it all the time yes folks talks rooted in love and respect but still end in disagreement Wow. Nothing I'm writing here is out of spite or because I want to tear down his character. But as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can't change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened. Last Monday, in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said at MetLife, Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him. We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft Group. Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively gave him an ultimatum. If Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues. Wow. And simple as that, bro. That's the end up. What is Ed supposed to do?
00:13:51
Speaker 2: Yes. And I forgot, apologize for forgetting the name of the Jewish organization. But when they said they were going to be contacting... The venues and the venues owners, that's when you thought they know what they're doing. They know how to shut this down. Ed Sheeran might not have felt the pressure singularly from this group. But when you start having now stadium owners say, you can't play in our stadium, what are.
00:14:16
Speaker 3: You supposed to do?
00:14:17
Speaker 1: They're canceling his tour for him. Yes.
00:14:19
Speaker 2: So Macklemore even acknowledges this as he goes on. He says, Ed was in a fucked up position.
00:14:24
Speaker 3: He knew it.
00:14:24
Speaker 2: His typical apolitical 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. I told him that if those words were more offensive, then 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. Don't take sides.
00:14:54
Speaker 1: And he goes on, I get why people don't. Taking a side can cost you money, brand deals, sponsorship, 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 bombs and bottomless financial and military support from America, refusing to take a side doesn't leave you in the middle. And that is where he will lose most people. Oppressed and oppressor. Oppressed and oppressor. Israelis, Jewish folks here, they're never going to be on board with that characterization.
00:15:29
Speaker 3: Yes, because they would argue that they have been the oppressed.
00:15:34
Speaker 1: For hundreds, thousands.
00:15:36
Speaker 3: Yes, thousands of years. Historically speaking, yes.
00:15:41
Speaker 2: Macklemore continues, what I said at MetLife, I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years.
00:15:47
Speaker 3: So why is it an issue now?
00:15:49
Speaker 2: Because now I'm sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America. At a certain level of exposure, Free Palestine becomes too much of a risk. If I kept doing the shows, saying Free Palestine, with Ed implicitly supporting it, the crowd getting loud and showing undeniable support for Palestinian liberation, what artist might speak up next? The stage becomes resistance. Maybe that's why this time it became so important to silence me.
00:16:19
Speaker 1: The stage became resistance. Look, Robes, Ed, that's the thing. They put the pressure on Robes. He's one of the top, maybe five, but certainly top ten streaming artists. I mean, he just rules Spotify. He's one of the biggest.
00:16:34
Speaker 3: Who doesn't like Ed Sheeran?
00:16:36
Speaker 1: Everybody likes him.
00:16:36
Speaker 3: We even talked about it.
00:16:37
Speaker 2: At the concert, I've never seen such a diversity in crowd, in age, in gender, in ethnicity.
00:16:44
Speaker 3: It was really cool. This is a guy who... who brings all those folks together. So now if you have.
00:16:50
Speaker 2: Somebody opening your act that is dividing people, that's a tough position to be in.
00:16:56
Speaker 1: And yeah, by not saying anything, he was seen as supporting what this dude was doing.
00:17:02
Speaker 3: Implicit support.
00:17:03
Speaker 1: All right, well, stay with us. We're going to read the rest of his statement, which includes, includes an important line about what he thinks has happened to him now and how we get from that to anti-Semitism. Also, we want you to hear Robert Kraft's response.
00:17:29
Speaker 2: Welcome back, everyone, to Amy and TJ. We continue with Macklemore's Instagram, lengthy Instagram statement, and he goes on to say, one of the most effective ways to enforce that silence has been to weaponize the accusation of anti-Semitism.
00:17:44
Speaker 3: This is what we were just talking about.
00:17:46
Speaker 2: Anti-Semitism is real, and that is exactly why the word matters too much to be used as a shield against criticism of the Israeli state. When criticizing Israel, opposing Zionism, or saying free Palestine gets conflated with hatred of Jewish people, it doesn't protect Jewish people, It protects Israel from accountability. He goes on to say he hopes it isn't the end of his relationship with Ed. He said he hopes 13 years of friendship doesn't disappear because of one painful disagreement. He says his door will always be opening to continue the conversation. And he talks about cancel culture and all of that. But I thought this next part was really, really interesting. He says, I didn't need 10 shows from Ed.
00:18:30
Speaker 3: I needed two.
00:18:31
Speaker 2: Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say.
00:18:38
Speaker 3: Free Palestine. But if those words cost me the stage while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I've ever been on.
00:18:49
Speaker 1: Maybe that's how he sees it, Robes. He has more of an agenda than music. He has.
00:18:55
Speaker 1: A way to get, look, people are talking about him to talk about this. Maybe people are looking into this a little more or people just hearing this and we're fighting a little more, right? Does this move the needle any way, one way or another? Does it help us have better conversations about it? It doesn't feel that way.
00:19:10
Speaker 3: No, it feels even more divisive is what it feels like.
00:19:13
Speaker 2: He ends by saying the victims are the Palestinian people, the men, women, and children who have been killed, starved, displaced, and forced to live through unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today and people will be killed tomorrow. I wanted to make sure that as I tell this story, we don't lose.
00:19:34
Speaker 3: Sight of that.
00:19:37
Speaker 1: Robes, I just want to try to leave space for somebody that has their beliefs and how convicted they might be in those beliefs and what's in his heart. It's just never, ever, ever. And even if people agree with some of what he's saying and do sympathize with people and children in Gaza, Robes, you're just not going to get people on your side if you're yelling that Jews are oppressors. You're just, that's not going to get you anywhere. Nobody's going to listen to your next sentence if you lead with that. He didn't lead with it, but it's in there. It's in there.
00:20:09
Speaker 3: It's in there. I just checked.
00:20:10
Speaker 2: He has 5.1 million likes.
00:20:15
Speaker 3: On that post right now. So it's certainly garnered a significant amount of attention.
00:20:21
Speaker 1: Okay, and we'll wrap here with Robert Kraft. Of course, long time New England Patriots owner, very powerful and influential guy when it comes to not just sports, not just football, but also just in entertainment. A lot of concerts go through has been used up there in Boston. Robes, I appreciated his statement, and then it broke my heart as well. So we're going to read this to you in full as well. Robes, you got it for me?
00:20:49
Speaker 2: I do.
00:20:49
Speaker 1: Okay.
00:20:50
Speaker 2: It reads, based on McLemore's recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, We determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line. This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf. Their pain and loss are real, but that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas.
00:21:32
Speaker 3: I agree with McLemore.
00:21:33
Speaker 2: Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering, but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate. 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.
00:22:01
Speaker 1: Last line broke my heart, baby. Because welcome the opportunity to sit down. Is there any chance we could have done that ahead of time? Do you instantly, we automatically cancel you? Okay, and then we'll talk about it.
00:22:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to cancel you, shame you, punish you. But now let's talk.
00:22:18
Speaker 1: I get where he's coming. And that part, it actually felt sincere to me, babe. It felt like he would sit down, have a conversation. He's talking about things they agree on. Yes, too many lives have been lost. Like, if we can get to that place where we agree, but still publicly, it's a clash. And you got to take sides. And you got to fight. And you got to cancel. And it's got to be absolute, one or the other. I just, I don't know, babe. And it's too much emotion, maybe. But that's a reasoned, measured response.
00:22:49
Speaker 3: Agreed.
00:22:50
Speaker 1: If any kind of outreach, maybe it did happen. It didn't seem like it, because I think Macklemore would have told us if he talked to Robert Kraft, wouldn't he?
00:22:56
Speaker 3: I believe he would have, yes.
00:22:57
Speaker 1: If there was an opportunity to sit down, and maybe you could have said, we had a discussion, and he agreed that what happened, and this time, and Gillette is going to look different, and I made some agreement. But then after the fact, we all agree, but oh well, you still gots to go. I thought there was an opportunity there.
00:23:17
Speaker 3: Well, the question is, was the offer real or genuine?
00:23:20
Speaker 2: Which?
00:23:21
Speaker 1: Which? No, he said he welcomes the opportunity. He didn't say he extended one.
00:23:27
Speaker 3: And there is a difference, and that word choice was specific.
00:23:29
Speaker 1: If I see him in an airport bar.
00:23:32
Speaker 3: I would welcome it if it ever happened, like just by chance.
00:23:36
Speaker 1: Maybe I say, I agree with Macklemore. Too many lives have been lost. Let's start with what we agree with, and let's expand until we get to the part we disagree with. We just never start with where we agree. We start with where we disagree, and now we're working backwards. That's just too bad. I read that and thought, man, that was an opportunity there.
00:23:55
Speaker 3: Well, he welcomes the next one.
00:23:57
Speaker 1: He welcomes the next one.
00:23:58
Speaker 2: Yes.
00:23:59
Speaker 1: All right, folks, that's the update. Macklemore is out on the Ed Sheeran tour. They're playing Gillette. What is this? Today is the what?
00:24:06
Speaker 3: Today is the 15th, so in nine days.
00:24:09
Speaker 1: So Ed is in Philly on the 19th. And then going to Gillette after that. I guess Roe's too bad. We missed him because that was the last opportunity.
00:24:20
Speaker 3: Damn, I can't. Dang, New Jersey Transit. That's who we're going to blame.
00:24:25
Speaker 1: Okay, well, folks, appreciate you as always. I'm TJ. That's Roe. We'll talk soon.