Mia Arevalo, a USC senior studying public relations and advertising, has been an Ed Sheeran fan since his 2011 album, “Plus.” In 2014, she attended her first concert at Crypto.com Arena as part of Sheeran’s Multiply Tour.
Although Arevalo didn’t listen to his music as much as the years went by, she said Sheeran still meant a lot to her. However, due to Macklemore’s controversial removal from Sheeran’s ongoing tour after Macklemore expressed support for Palestinians onstage, she said her support for the English artist is likely over.
“People want to know where their favorite artists align to see whether or not they want to keep contributing their time and attention and their money,” Arevalo said. “Hopefully this can be an opportunity for him to really take into consideration the people that he’s disappointed.”
What led to Macklemore’s removal?
Sheeran is currently on his 2026 Loop Tour and has recently played shows in Los Angeles, Toronto and East Rutherford. Macklemore, the rapper known for his songs “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us,” had been Sheeran’s opening act for some of these dates.
In an Instagram post posted Monday, Macklemore revealed that he had been dropped from the tour following his on-stage support of Palestinians living in Gaza.
“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,” Macklemore said while opening for Sheeran’s concert in New Jersey earlier this month.
Macklemore’s speech resulted in the owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, Robert Kraft, saying that he would not allow Macklemore to play at the tour’s stop at Gillette Stadium on September 25 and 26.
Sheeran said in an Instagram statement posted Tuesday that the decision to take Macklemore off his tour was made because multiple venues were threatening to cancel the tour’s stops in a joint effort involving Kraft.
“Macklemore coming off [the] tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,” Sheeran said. “Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.”
Sheeran said he attempted to find a resolution with both the promoters and activists, but that the “venue’s and promoter’s decision was final.”
Supporting artists leave tour in protest
Other supporting artists who were set to play at Sheeran’s Loop Tour said Tuesday that they have withdrawn from the tour in individual statements posted on Instagram. Finneas, Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe were opening acts, and Irish folk band Beoga was set to be Sheeran’s band.
“We have made the decision to depart as Ed Sheeran’s band on the remaining U.S. Loop Tour, following the silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies,” Beoga wrote in their Tuesday statement.
Since then, Kraft said in a statement on Wednesday that he donated $2 million to “aid in the region,” matching Sheeran’s previous donation.
Earlier that day, Macklemore took to Instagram to announce his donation of $1 million to six organizations supporting Palestinian relief efforts. He had also called on Kraft to match his donation.
Was Macklemore’s removal legal?
Michael Overing, a professor of law and practicing attorney who specializes in media law, said Macklemore being taken off the tour is not considered censorship because it is not government censorship, but rather, a decision made by Kraft and the tour promoter.
“It’s not a First Amendment issue, it’s a contractual issue,” he said.
Overing said contracts typically allow some control over what is allowed to be said publicly by artists that are hired, so taking Macklemore off the tour because of his speech was likely not illegal.
He said he expects there to be adaptations in future contracts that deal with artists taking political stances at concerts.
“The biggest issue is that we’re going to see changes in the contracts to indicate when an act decides to confront a political issue and whether or not they can be released from the lineup based upon their political views,” Overing said.
However, Taijai Owens, a junior majoring in journalism, said it looked like Macklemore was being censored due to his beliefs.
“It was definitely infringing on his free speech because if he had said something about supporting Israel, it wouldn’t have been an issue,” she said.
Another law professor, Jeff Schneider, agreed that Macklemore’s situation would likely not be a case of censorship, but he said in an email that issues would probably arise because of breach of contracts.
Schneider said Macklemore is likely still getting paid, but it is unclear whether the other artists breached their contracts by leaving the tour.
Edited by Sean Campbell, Miranda Huang and Caitlin Roehmholdt.