Ed Sheeran on Macklemore Exit: 'It Was Not My Decision'

Ed Sheeran spent Tuesday explaining a decision he says wasn't his to make. In a statement posted to Instagram, the British singer said he'd spent the past week "trying to build bridges" with venues that threatened to pull his upcoming stadium shows if Macklemore stayed on as his opening act - and that, in the end, he couldn't stop the rapper from being dropped.

The dispute traces back to September 4 and 5, when Macklemore opened two of Sheeran's "Loop" tour dates at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. At the first show, he performed his protest song "Hind's Hall" and told the crowd "Free Palestine," part of what he's described as years of public support for Palestinians. By Monday, Messina Touring Group - the U.S. promoter of Sheeran's tour - confirmed Macklemore would not perform on the tour's remaining dates, saying in a statement that venues had warned they wouldn't host the tour at all if he stayed on the bill.

Macklemore filled in the specifics himself in a lengthy Instagram post Monday. He said Sheeran told him that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had called to say Macklemore wouldn't be allowed to perform at Gillette Stadium, where Sheeran is booked for two shows later this month - and that Kraft had rallied other stadium owners into giving Sheeran the same ultimatum. Kraft, in a statement to multiple outlets, confirmed he made the call on Gillette specifically, citing Macklemore's "recent actions" in New Jersey and what he called a broader history of imagery he considers offensive to the Jewish community, an apparent reference to a 2014 incident involving a costume widely criticized at the time. Kraft's statement did not address Macklemore's claim that he pressured venue owners beyond Gillette; representatives for Kraft did not respond to requests for comment on that specific allegation, which remains unconfirmed independently of Macklemore's account.

Sheeran, for his part, said the call to remove Macklemore came from the venues and his tour's promoter, not from him. He wrote that he'd been told the venues' objection was based on how Macklemore delivered part of his message onstage, rather than the substance of it, and that he'd spent the week talking with venue owners - Kraft included - trying to keep the tour intact.

The backlash arrived fast. By Tuesday afternoon, three of Sheeran's remaining opening acts - Finneas, Aaron Rowe and Lukas Graham - had announced they were withdrawing from the tour in protest, along with Beoga, the band that's been backing Sheeran himself. Rowe said in his own statement that he couldn't stay on a tour where billionaires were allowed to silence artists speaking out against the deaths of children in Gaza. Macklemore's original post, meanwhile, had been reshared close to 800,000 times within a day, drawing public support from figures across music, entertainment and politics - including, according to multiple reports, direct criticism of Sheeran's handling of the situation.

What's still unresolved is whether Sheeran's stadium dates go ahead as planned. Gillette Stadium's September 25 and 26 shows remain listed on his tour site, for now without any opening act at all.