Jon Blistein
Contact Jon Blistein by Email View all posts by Jon Blistein October 26, 2026 Add us as a Google Preferred Source
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Jack Antonoff and Ed Sheeran Erika Goldring/WireImage; Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Jack Antonoff said Ed Sheeran should have just canceled “the whole fucking tour” instead of caving to pressure to boot Macklemore over the rapper’s comments on the Israel-Gaza war.
Sheeran “missed a massive, beautiful opportunity there,” Antonoff told The Guardian in a new interview. “Just cancel the whole fucking tour, then play for free outside each venue, raise a bunch of money, rather than let a fucking billionaire tell you what to do.”
In September, Macklemore was dropped from the North American leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour after the owners of several stadiums said he would not be allowed to perform at their venues. At the first two shows of the tour at MetLife Stadium outside New York City, Macklemore called for a “Free Palestine,” expressed solidarity with people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, showed images of the devastation from Israel’s war in Gaza, and performed his protest song, “Hind’s Hall.”
After being dropped, Macklemore released a statement saying Robert Kraft — the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots — had barred him from playing Gillette Stadium. Macklemore claimed Kraft also “rallied some of the other stadium owners” to push Sheeran to drop him, or face having the shows canceled. Kraft, for his part, confirmed he barred Macklemore from Gillette, but did not address the claim that he rallied the other owners.
Sheeran’s decision to drop Macklemore caused a massive backlash. The other openers for the North American leg of his Loop Tour dropped off the trek, as did Finneas, who was set to open the South American leg of the tour. The Irish folk band, Beoga, who had been performing a short set of songs with Sheeran each night also left the trek.
