Fans of Ed Sheeran are demanding refunds from Ticketmaster after the rapper Macklemore was removed from Sheeran's The Loop Tour following a controversial "Free Palestine" speech at a New Jersey show. Several X (formerly Twitter) users have called for full refunds, resale of tickets, or simply not attending shows in protest. Some suggest that empty seats could impact Sheeran’s tour financially more than resold tickets would. Page Six has reached out to both Sheeran and Ticketmaster for comment but did not receive responses by the time of publication.
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 U.S. Loop Tour after comments supporting Palestine and criticizing Israel during a concert in New Jersey on September 4-5, 2023. Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium, organized a boycott among stadium owners over Macklemore’s remarks, leading to his removal. In response, Macklemore posted on Instagram saying he wasn’t sure how to start but wanted to share the truth: Sheeran and his team had made the decision to remove him from the tour. The promoter of the U.S. leg of the tour, Messina Touring Group, confirmed that venues threatened cancellation if Macklemore remained. Kraft defended the decision, stating it was not diminishing Palestinian suffering but that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure Hamas’s responsibility. Pro-Israel groups like the Israeli American Council called on Sheeran to remove Macklemore from his tour platform for advancing divisive political propaganda. The controversy highlights tensions over free speech and political stances in public performances. Ed Sheeran has not yet commented on who will replace Macklemore for the remaining eight U.S. shows of his tour.
Written for “Macklemore Dropped From Tour” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 24 other(s) covering the same event.
One fan wrote on X this week, “Hey @Ticketmaster so @edsheeran is no longer having @macklemore on his tour we purchased these tickets when @macklemore was on the setlist and we would like to cancel our tickets for a full refund please and you can sell them to someone else!
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you → write → someone
Meanwhile, someone else tweeted at X’s AI Chatbot, Grok, and asked, “Will Ticketmaster give me a refund for my Ed Sheeran tickets since all of his other opening acts dropped out in solidarity with Macklemore […]?”
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all → tweet → Macklemore
Another X account tagged Ticketmaster and asked the company, “[…] Are you also offering refunds for people who don’t want to go to a concert where an artist was kicked off a tour for speaking their mind?
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artist → tag → mind
“Because it’s only fair.
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it → ’ → ?
But my guess is that you’re not gonna do that, huh?” the account added.
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account → go → that
A fourth user called on anyone who has tickets to Sheeran’s shows to ask for their money back.
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who → call → money
Meanwhile, another account said that instead of asking for a refund, Sheeran’s fans with tickets already “should simply not go” to the tour.
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fans → say → tour
“Empty seats will impact his tour a lot more than resold tickets,” the tweet read.
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tweet → impact → tickets
“It’ll affect merch sales and venue profits too.
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It → affect → sales
A different account claimed there’s been “a surge” in Sheeran’s tickets being put up for resale after Macklemore’s removal.
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account → claim → removal
Page Six has reached out to Sheeran’s rep and Ticketmaster for comment.
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Six → reach → comment
Macklemore, 43, was dropped from Sheeran’s The Loop Tour after several venues notified the tour’s promoter that they would not allow him to perform after he yelled “Free Palestine” onstage at a recent show in New Jersey.
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he → drop → Jersey
In a lengthy post on Monday, Macklemore placed responsibility on Sheeran, writing that “Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.”
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Sheeran → place → tour
The “Thrift Shop” rapper said he considers Sheeran “a brother,” but the pair “had some difficult conversations this past week.”
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pair → say → conversations
Macklemore claimed that Sheeran, 35, told him that billionaire Robert Kraft called him and said he would “not be allowed” to perform at Gillette Stadium later this month.
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he → claim → Stadium
He further claimed that Sheeran told him that the words “Free Palestine” and the image of the Palestinian flag “were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with.”
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he → claim → people
“I told him that if those words were more offensive than tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood,” he alleged.
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he → tell → stood
“But he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides.’”
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I → get → sides
The “Thinking Out Loud” singer said that because of “how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance” at their NJ shows, Sheeran learned from venues that future shows would be pulled if Macklemore wasn’t dropped.
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Macklemore → think → venues
Sheeran insisted he tried to “build a bridge” between the two sides — including by talking to Kraft, 85 — but was ultimately unsuccessful.
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he → insist → Kraft
“Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me,” Sheeran wrote.
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Sheeran → write → promoter
“I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living.”
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who → let → living
Kraft said in a statement to Page Six that Macklemore was banned from performing at Gillette Stadium because the venue doesn’t “provide a platform for hate speech.”
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venue → say → speech
“Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line,” Kraft stated.
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Kraft → base → line
Following Sheeran’s statement on Tuesday, his opening acts Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga all dropped out of the tour in support of Macklemore.
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acts → follow → Macklemore
Sheeran has ten shows remaining on the North American leg of his tour, which wraps up in December.
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which → have → December
Conversation
Your voice matters.
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voice → matter → Conversation
Discussions are moderated for civility.
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Discussions → moderate → civility
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