Macklemore sparked some controversy this weekend after sharing a “Free Palestine” message during a concert. One person seemingly bothered is world-famous pop star Pink, who re-shared a message calling for his apology.
On September 4, 2026, Macklemore was opening for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. During his set, the Seattle-born rapper delivered a pro-Palestinian speech. “I believe that every human being walking on this earth deserves exactly the same freedom,” he said, per Variety.
In a post on Instagram, Pink re-shared a post made by the group Stop Antisemitism. In it, they chided Macklemore for his politically themed set. “Awful,” the post began. “Jewish fans bought tickets to see Ed Sheeran sing last night in NJ, not to be ambushed by Macklemore’s anti-Israel propaganda.”
Macklemore’s “free Palestine” message has sparked a petition demanding Ed Sheeran drop him from the tour
The post continued: “Instead, Macklemore walked onstage in a keffiyeh, shouted ‘Free Palestine,’ accused Israel of a false ‘genocide,’ and turned a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state. Concertgoers are owed apologies and refunds.” They added, “This is unacceptable.”
Additionally, Macklemore’s “free Palestine” speech sparked a petition from the Israeli American Council. They demand that Sheeran remove him from all remaining tour dates.
“This was an Ed Sheeran concert,” the petition reads. “Not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event. The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.”
Notably, Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian stance is not new. In 2024, he released the song “Hind’s Hall,” which openly criticizes Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Proceeds from the song go to humanitarian efforts from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Macklemore’s performance of this song, it seems, was the source of specific complaints for many.
“This becomes even more troubling when the message relies on selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact, without context or complexity,” the petition added.
“The decision to perform Hind’s Hall was not incidental,” the petition went on to note. “The song was written in explicit support of the campus protest movement and takes its name from ‘Hind’s Hall’, the name protesters gave Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall after occupying the building.
The petition does not currently show how many signatures it has accumulated.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
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