Macklemore has announced his own “Free Palestine Tour,” with shows in Dublin on Oct. 26, Paris on Oct. 29 and London on Oct. 30, after being dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour over his repeated “Free Palestine” statements and his performance of the anti-Israel song “Hind’s Hall.”
The rapper was removed from the rest of Sheeran’s dates earlier this month after Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft barred him from appearing at the venue. Sheeran has said the call ultimately came from the concert promoter and the venues, not from him personally.
Comedian Kathy Griffin said in an interview with Queerty that Sheeran should have stood his ground instead of going along with the venues’ decision.
“I wish that Ed Sheeran had not taken the advice of the ones who told him to fire Macklemore. Let’s not be listening to f—— Robert Kraft. When Robert Kraft says I’ve called all the other stadium owners and they’re not gonna let you do the show with Macklemore either, Ed Sheeran should’ve said go f— yourself, I can go to Brazil and perform for 250,000 people. He had more options,” Griffin said.
Griffin argued Macklemore’s comments were protected speech and said she does not view “Free Palestine” as controversial.
“I don’t think ‘Free Palestine’ is such a controversial thing to say because that’s a genuine genocide that is happening there, in my opinion. I don’t want Israel to be eradicated. I love the Israeli people as I hope the rest of the world likes the American people but hates [President Donald] Trump and his cabinet and our current SCOTUS. So I can’t stand [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu. I think he’s ruined the Knesset which is their Congress. But I certainly don’t have a beef with the Jewish people or the Palestinian people. They’re both trying to survive. I personally think that Palestine should be its own country,” Griffin said.
Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Sheeran and Kraft for comment.
The Israeli-American Council backed Kraft’s move to keep Macklemore off stage, calling it “moral leadership.”
“The Israeli-American Council (IAC) applauds Robert Kraft and his fellow stadium owners for their moral leadership in expelling rapper Macklemore from the concert stage rather than allow him to promote antisemitism,” the group said in a statement, adding that “a performer who traffics in antisemitism should not be given a stage.”
Kraft separately pledged $2 million for humanitarian aid amid the fallout, while progressive figures and free-speech advocates have criticized the venue ban as an attempt to silence a performer’s political speech. Macklemore’s three newly announced tour dates in Dublin, Paris and London stand as his answer to being pulled from the stage in the United States.
