The Aporia · Ed Sheeran speaks out on dropping Macklemore from tour, says it was promoters' decision

Ed Sheeran addressed criticism for removing Macklemore from his concert tour last week, stating that the decision was made by the promoters and not by him personally. The controversy began when Macklemore made pro-Palestinian comments during a show in Tel Aviv, Israel, which led to his removal from subsequent dates of Sheeran’s tour.

Written by the local model on 2026-09-16, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

Story summary

Rapper Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's US tour after making pro-Palestinian comments during concerts in New Jersey, including chanting "Free Palestine" and accusing Israel of apartheid. The decision came after venues threatened to cancel shows if Macklemore remained on the tour. In a post on Instagram, Macklemore said that Ed Sheeran's team had decided to remove him due to pressure from stadium owners like billionaire Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. Kraft claimed the rapper's recent performances and history of rhetoric were hurtful to the Jewish community. The controversy highlights tensions between pro-Palestinian advocacy and concerns over perceived antisemitism in public discourse. Macklemore defended his stance, emphasizing that Palestinian people are the real victims of conflict. The replacement for Macklemore on Sheeran’s tour is yet to be announced.

Written for “Macklemore Dropped From Tour” on 2026-09-17, grounded in this article and the 25 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.

No political leaning scored for article 13547 · logged 2026-09-16

📰 Macklemore Dropped From Tour

Entertainment · 26 article(s) covering the same event.

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour following pro-Palestinian remarks same event · 100%

CBS News

⚖️ Leans right 🔴 5% hedged 1 of 20 📰 publisher trust 77

“Both articles describe the identical incident of Macklemore being dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour due to his pro-Palestinian remarks, occurring at the same time.”

Macklemore cut from Ed Sheeran tour for pro-Palestine stance same event · 95%

Al Jazeera · 0.88 cosine similarity

⚖️ Leans right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 3 📰 publisher trust 96

“Both articles discuss the identical incident of Macklemore being removed from Ed Sheeran's tour due to his pro-Palestinian stance, at different stages of public reaction.”

Macklemore cut from Ed Sheeran U.S. tour after onstage 'Free Palestine' remarks same event · 95%

CBC News · 0.87 cosine similarity

⚖️ Leans left 🔴 2% hedged 1 of 45 📰 publisher trust 95

“Both articles discuss the identical incident where Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's U.S. tour due to comments made during a performance.”

Macklemore says he was dropped from Ed Sheeran tour after Robert Kraft organized boycott same event · 95%

NBC News

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 5 of 49 📰 publisher trust 95

“Both articles discuss the same incident where Ed Sheeran drops Macklemore from his tour following pro-Palestinian statements, with conflicting claims about Robert Kraft's involvement and the decision-makers.”

Macklemore says he has been removed from tour with Ed Sheeran after Gaza comment same event · 95%

Evening Standard

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 28 📰 publisher trust 71

“Both articles discuss Ed Sheeran removing Macklemore from a tour due to comments made during a concert, indicating they are reporting on the same incident.”

Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran tour after 'Free Palestine' speech same event · 95%

BBC News

⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 9% hedged 3 of 34 📰 publisher trust 96

“Both articles describe Macklemore being dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour due to his pro-Palestinian comments, at the same time and place.”

Macklemore says he has been removed from tour with Ed Sheeran after Gaza comment same event · 95%

Evening Standard

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 34 📰 publisher trust 71

“Both articles discuss Ed Sheeran removing Macklemore from a tour following comments made at a concert, indicating they refer to the same incident.”

Michael Rapaport cheers Macklemore getting dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour, says 'f--- you' different event · 95%

Fox News

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 25 📰 publisher trust 95

“While both articles discuss Macklemore being removed from Ed Sheeran's tour, they describe different aspects of the event: Article A focuses on Michael Rapaport's reaction, while Article B covers Ed Sheeran's statement explaining the decision.”

Artists touring with Ed Sheeran quit over rapper’s removal amid Palestine row same event · 95%

Evening Standard

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 13 📰 publisher trust 71

“Both articles discuss the removal of Macklemore from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour following pro-Palestinian statements made during a show at MetLife Stadium.”

Ed Sheeran fans demand concert money back after Macklemore axed over ‘Free Palestine’ speech backlash same event · 95%

New York Post

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 28 📰 publisher trust 59

“Both articles discuss Ed Sheeran dropping Macklemore from his tour due to pro-Palestinian statements, resulting in fan backlash and demands for refunds.”

CBS News · 554 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)

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No reporter is named on this article.

pro-Palestinian

Ed Sheeran PERSON · 2× Macklemore PERSON · 2× Shanelle Kaul PERSON · 1× pro-Palestinian NORP · 1×

Ed Sheeran speaks out on dropping Macklemore from tour, says it was promoters' decision Ed Sheeran spoke out Tuesday after facing backlash for dropping Macklemore from his tour following the rapper's pro-Palestinian statements onstage.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-16

2026-09-16 · CBS News

Ed Sheeran speaks out on dropping Macklemore from tour, says it was promoters' decision · assertive framing

Ed Sheeran speaks out on dropping Macklemore from tour, says it was promoters' decision Ed Sheeran spoke out Tuesday after facing backlash for dropping Macklemore from his tour following the rapper's pro-Palestinian statements onstage. asserted

Sheeran → speak → statements

Shanelle Kaul reports. asserted

Kaul → report → ?

Ed Sheeran speaks out on dropping Macklemore from tour, says it was promoters' decision

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