Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour loses all 4 remaining support acts after Macklemore's removal over pro-Palestine comments

Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour hit a crisis point Tuesday when four supporting artists pulled out in a show of solidarity with Macklemore, who had been removed from the tour lineup after voicing support for Palestinians during a concert.

The exits came just hours after Sheeran addressed Macklemore's removal on social media, saying the call had come from the tour's promoters rather than from him. Soon after, Irish artists Aaron Rowe and the band Beoga, Danish group Lukas Graham, and producer-musician Finneas, brother and collaborator of Billie Eilish, all announced on Instagram that they were stepping away from the tour.

Rowe and Lukas Graham had been lined up to fill Macklemore's opening slot for Sheeran's remaining U.S. dates, while Beoga had been joining Sheeran mid-set for several numbers, some of which the group had helped write. Finneas had been scheduled to join the tour's South American leg later this year. Announcing his departure, he declared his support for Palestinians.

Sheeran caught in the middle

The wave of withdrawals has put Sheeran in a difficult spot. He has generally steered clear of commenting on the situation, saying audiences come to his concerts for music, not politics.

Both Rowe and Beoga framed their decisions around Ireland's own colonial history. Beoga described its members as longtime activists connected to the Irish Artists for Palestine movement, saying their understanding of colonisation shaped their stance.

Lukas Graham, known for hits including "7 Years," thanked Sheeran but called the choice to leave a hard one, suggesting that wealth shouldn't determine whose suffering gets acknowledged or who's allowed to speak — an apparent reference to Robert Kraft's involvement in Macklemore's removal.

How it started

The controversy began when Macklemore said he'd been pulled from the Loop Tour after shouting a pro-Palestinian slogan onstage at MetLife Stadium on September 5, while introducing his song "Hind's Hall."

According to Macklemore, several U.S. venues threatened to bar him from performing, a push led by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose company also owns Gillette Stadium, one of the tour's remaining stops.

Macklemore had been booked for eight of Sheeran's ten remaining stadium shows, which resume this weekend in Philadelphia before heading to venues in Foxborough, Atlanta, and Indianapolis. Sheeran said he'd pushed back against the venues but that the final call belonged to them and the promoter.

In his statement, Sheeran said his goal with music is to unite people across different backgrounds, and that although he holds personal opinions about the conflict, he's chosen not to air them publicly because concertgoers aren't expecting a political platform. He pushed back on any suggestion that his silence made him complicit, and said he admired Macklemore for speaking out, while framing his own choice to stay diplomatic as an equally valid way of pursuing peace.