Lewis Hamilton has thrown his weight behind American rapper Macklemore following the artist’s dismissal from Ed Sheeran’s US Loop Tour over pro-Palestinian statements made on stage.
The seven-time Formula One world champion responded directly to Macklemore’s Instagram post detailing the circumstances of his removal. “Thank you for using your voice, standing with you,” Hamilton wrote beneath the lengthy statement.
Macklemore had been dropped from the remaining American dates after voicing pro-Palestinian sentiments during performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 4 and 5 September. The tour’s promoter, Messina Touring Group, indicated that venues on forthcoming dates would not permit concerts featuring the “Thrift Shop” rapper on the bill.
Hamilton, who has previously spoken out on social justice matters, joins a growing chorus of prominent figures rallying behind Macklemore in the wake of his removal.
Lewis Hamilton told Macklemore: “Thank you for using your voice, standing with you.”
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Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots whose company controls MetLife Stadium, declared that his venue would not “provide a platform for hate speech.” He went further, accusing Macklemore of “a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric.”
Sheeran, for his part, sought to distance himself from the decision to remove his friend from the tour. The Suffolk-born singer attributed Macklemore’s departure to concert promoters and venue operators rather than any personal directive.
The pop megastar acknowledged holding private views on the conflict but maintained his long-standing refusal to air them publicly. As Macklemore later recounted, Sheeran “couldn’t get past his public-facing, ‘I don’t take sides.'”
It was a stance that placed the British artist in an increasingly uncomfortable position, caught between commercial pressures from powerful venue owners and a mounting backlash from fellow musicians demanding moral clarity.
Macklemore was unequivocal in his statement that he did not consider himself a victim of the situation. “The victims are the Palestinian people,” he declared. “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.”
The rapper framed his brief stint on the tour in strikingly defiant terms. He insisted he had only ever needed two shows rather than ten.
“Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say. Free Palestine,” he wrote. “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.”
Macklemore spoke candidly about his bond with Sheeran, describing a friendship stretching back thirteen years. “Ed is my friend,” he said. “We’ve shared late nights, studio sessions and stages. He has this infectious magic about him that I’ve grown to love. I consider him a brother.”
Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour after his remarks on Palestine
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That closeness, however, did not prevent a profound rift. The rapper revealed the pair had engaged in several phone conversations during the preceding week — exchanges he characterised as “rooted in love and respect for one another that still end in a place of fundamental disagreement.”
Macklemore recounted telling Sheeran that his typical avoidance of political matters was being tested as never before. The British singer reportedly told him that the words “Free Palestine” and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to many people in his circle.
Macklemore’s response was blunt: if those words proved more offensive than tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed, “then there was a fundamental disconnect.”
The wave of solidarity extended well beyond the world of motorsport. Climate activist Greta Thunberg offered her unambiguous backing, stating: “Full solidarity and free Palestine. Artists’ very active silence in the face of injustice and genocide will not be forgotten.”
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap echoed the sentiment with characteristic directness: “Free Palestine. They can never silence the truth.”
British singer Paloma Faith was equally effusive in her praise, calling Macklemore “a rare and important voice” and adding: “You are a hero.”
The fallout for Sheeran’s tour proved substantial beyond mere words of support. Three further support acts — Finneas, Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe — pulled out of the remaining dates in an act of solidarity with Macklemore, leaving the Loop Tour facing a significant reshuffling of its lineup as it continued across the United States.
