Month: September 2026

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Last week, Macklemore shared a “Free Palestine” message while opening for Ed Sheeran’s tour.

The audience applauded in support. Some, like Pink, pitched a fit, accusing the rapper of “antisemitism” for opposing genocide. (No, it doesn’t really make sense.)

Now, he has been removed from future tour dates, sending a chilling message within the music industry and beyond.

The legal implications of this case are pretty interesting. We’ll explain.

‘Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates’

Unfortunately, Macklemore has been booted from the remainder of Ed Sheeran’s tour.

(A few years ago, we could not have imagined feeling invested in the rapper or this tour, yet here we are.)

The cause is that multiple venues at which they were scheduled to play allegedly threatened to ban the tour altogether if the rapper remained part of the lineup.

That’s complex and may lead to legal issues (more on that later).

First, let’s delve into exactly what the tour’s promoter is saying happened.

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Messina Touring Group, the US promoter of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, explained to Rolling Stone how it went down.

“As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour,” MTG explained, “we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.”

This is a situation “which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.”

A little vaguely, MTG confirmed: “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”

The rapper was supposed to appear at eight of the tour’s 10 remaining US shows. Now, he’s out.

#FreePalestine 🇵🇸
I support Macklemore. What he said, needed to be heard. Stop this genocide.

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— MadGreek 🧿 (@madgreek2024.bsky.social) September 9, 2026 at 4:35 PM

What did Macklemore say to get into ‘trouble’ like this?

To put it simply, Macklemore told the crowd “free Palestine,” referring to the plight of Palestinians who live under apartheid, settlement, bombing, and are well beyond the threshold for genocide by any reasonable metric as Israel continues to wage a campaign of terror upon a captive population.

He also played “Hind’s Hall,” a protest song about the ongoing atrocities.

Pro-Zionism organizations began to claim that the rapper’s statements were “antisemitic.”

This critique is, in and of itself, antisemitism, as it conflates the Jewish people — a vast and diverse array of people with a shared heritage and a tapestry of shared histories — with the criminal actions of the monstrous Israeli regime.

Pink was among those who shared this deplorable message. That said, even she clarified that she was not calling for Macklemore’s firing.

A couple of the studios remaining on Sheeran’s tour are privately owned. Within certain legal limits, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough can do whatever they like.

However, that is not the case with all or even most of the stadiums remaining on the tour. Many of them are operated, at least in part, by the government.

The United States government is not allowed to discriminate against people based upon their free speech. The First Amendment could be a major issue.

Unfortunately, any settlement through the courts will likely happen long after these tour dates are over.

Still, it’s nice to think that the rapper could win big in court on solid constitutional grounds. We certainly hope that he presses the issue.

Macklemore has been a vocal advocate for Palestinian rights and critic of U.S. foreign policy since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.

“It’s my moral obligation,” says Macklemore. “I’m not going to stop.”

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— Democracy Now! (@democracynow.org) March 28, 2025 at 9:38 AM

The double standards are obvious

By the way, as Rolling Stone notes, one of the stadiums — Raymond James Stadium in Tampa — recently allowed Kanye West to perform.

Interesting when the Hitler enthusiast isn’t too antisemitic to play, but the guy who opposes genocide is a dealbreaker.

It almost sounds like this isn’t really about protecting Jews or about antisemitism, but something else. Something less noble. Something less good.

Now, Macklemore is pointing the finger at Robert Kraft specifically as the ringleader of this, to be blunt, cruel and unjust crusade against the simplest appeal to decency.

Kraft is one of the private stadium owners. Can the folks whom he allegedly roped into this vileness however say the same? We hope that he will take them to court.

Macklemore Booted from Ed Sheeran Tour After Saying ‘Free Palestine’ was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

​The Hollywood Gossip

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By now, you’ve probably seen Sydney Sweeney’s ads for the sports betting app Novig. After all, they’re pretty much inescapable.

In addition to the fact that the company has gone all-in by posting the spots everywhere, the ads have also sparked widespread debate about everything from the ethics of legalized gambling to Sydney’s career choices.

Some of the harshest criticism has come from female athletes who believe that Sydney’s racy campaign has done tremendous damage to the cause of women in sports.

One such critic is British sprinter Amy Hunt, who addressed the controversy after winning the 200-meter dash at a meet in Budapest over the weekend.

“Sydney Sweeney, this is what women in sport look like,” she told the BBC after her race.

Australian surfer Felicity Palmateer echoed those remarks.

“Just absolute utter disbelief, incredibly disappointing, like, how far you can put women’s sports backwards in the space of a 42-second commercial,” she told CNN this week, adding that the campaign “is very damaging, especially for young females getting into sport, for females in sport, for females in general, just hypersexualized content.”

“We want to be valued for what we can do, not what we look like,” Palmateer continued.

Palmateer and Hunt were far from alone in their annoyance. In fact, it seems that Sydney’s latest controversial ad campaign has infuriated female athletes all over the world.

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“I wasn’t going to share this as I didn’t want to give this any more attention. But I can’t keep my mouth shut,” Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus wrote on her Instagram Story, according to CNN.

“I can’t describe how infuriated I feel when I watch this,” Titmus continued, adding:

“Not only is this a kick in the face to every woman who has dedicated her life to perfecting her craft, but every woman who enjoys sports for what it really is — teamwork, friendship, dedication, excellence, unity … the list goes on.”

“Don’t know what Sydney thinks sport looks like, but THIS is what sport looks like,” swimmer Lani Pallister wrote on her own page.

You get the point. In general, athletes tend to not be fans of legalized sports betting. And it seems they’re really not fans of using nudity to advertise betting apps.

Sydney is no stranger to controversy, but this is some of the most widespread criticism she’s faced in her career.

Defenders have noted that her partnership with Novig is no mere endorsement deal, and she’s actually a stakeholder in the company.

So the situation might be more empowering than her critics have considered. Either way, Sydney stands to get very rich from the deal, so she might not be too worried about what her haters have to say.

Sydney Sweeney’s Nude Novig Ad Slammed By Female Athletes was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

​The Hollywood Gossip