Ed, you’re inverted: more is expected of you

In September 2026, as antisemitism surges across the Western world, handing your stage to those who inflame division is not neutrality. It is a choice—and choices have consequences.

At Ed Sheeran’s two MetLife Stadium concerts in New Jersey on 4 and 5 September, opening act Macklemore transformed part of an enormously popular music event into a political rally. Wearing a keffiyeh, he called out “Free Palestine” before performing his protest song Hind’s Hall, while footage from Gaza, pro-Palestinian demonstrations and political messaging filled the stadium screens. He reportedly described Israel using the contested accusations of “apartheid” and “genocide” and praised the university encampment movement. The Israeli-American Council has since called upon Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the remaining tour dates.

Macklemore is, of course, entitled to his views. Freedom of expression includes the freedom to criticise Israel, advocate for Palestinians and oppose a war. It also includes the freedom of others to challenge selective narratives, misleading imagery and inflammatory allegations. Freedom of expression does not confer a right to someone else’s stage—and it certainly does not mean freedom from responsibility.

This was not some spontaneous, ambiguous gesture. Hind’s Hall is an explicitly political song written in support of the anti-Israel University encampments. It accuses Israel of genocide and apartheid, attacks American support for Israel and treats anti-Zionism as something wholly separate from antisemitism—despite the intimidation and exclusion experienced by many Jewish students around those very protests. Macklemore has pursued this campaign for years. In 2024, during a pro-Palestinian benefit performance in Seattle, he declared, “Fuck America.” He was subsequently removed from the Neon City Festival, while sporting organisations associated with him publicly distanced themselves from his increasingly divisive rhetoric.

None of that history was hidden. Macklemore did not arrive without a record. His activism is central to his public identity, and Hind’s Hall is one of his best-known political statements. Inviting him onto a stadium tour without establishing what he intended to do—or knowing and accepting it—was therefore more than an innocent oversight.