Ed Sheeran, 'Free Palestine', and the fallacy of apoliticism
Can artists really remain apolitical in 2026?
On 4 and 5 September, Macklemore opened for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. In front of roughly 90,000 people, the rapper said "Free Palestine" and performed "Hind's Hall", a song for Hind Rajab.
Hind Rajab was six years old when Israeli forces killed her in a car in Gaza City in January 2024, after she spent hours on the phone begging rescuers to reach her.
The political protest song released in May that year supports the pro-Palestinian movement and honours the child.
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Ten days after that concert, Macklemore was off Ed Sheeran's LOOP Tour.
According to Macklemore, Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, called Sheeran directly and helped rally other stadium owners into an ultimatum: drop Macklemore or lose their venues.
Kraft is one of the most prominent pro-Israel philanthropists in American sports. He funds the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism and he has confirmed that he personally barred Macklemore from Gillette.
Sheeran spent the following week trying, in his words, to "build a bridge" with the owners.
Then he accepted their terms.
Eventually that followed a bullet-pointed statement from the British singer-songwriter on Instagram.
I am appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars across the world causing immeasurable pain, none of which should be tolerated.
I want to sit with that word "conflict" for a moment, because words are basically my job.
I understand why an artist might want to speak carefully about a conflict as painful and politically divisive as Israel and Palestine. I also understand the desire to make a concert a place where people can temporarily escape the world's arguments. But language matters. A lot actually.
Calling it a "conflict" can create an impression of symmetry between two parties with radically different military capabilities. The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded in September 2025 that Israeli authorities and security forces had committed and were continuing to commit genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza.
The commission identified killing, serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction, and measures intended to prevent births as genocidal acts.
Palestinians there have no air force, no navy, and no tanks.
Calling this a conflict between two sides treats an occupying military and a besieged population as evenly matched combatants, which they are not.
I do not believe artists owe us political agreement. They might not owe us activism. They might not owe us a particular position on Israel, Palestine, Ukraine or any other international crisis.
I also do not believe artists with enormous platforms can pretend that their platforms exist outside politics.
An artist makes choices every day. Whom to collaborate with. Which organisations to support. Which causes to fund. Which venues to perform in. Which people to defend. Which people to distance themselves from. Which statements to make. And which statements to avoid. These exist because of structures of power.
And that is politics.
Sheeran wants his concerts to be "a place of safety and sanctuary". I understand that desire. Millions of people go to concerts because they want joy, music, and temporary relief from the pressures of ordinary life.
Sheeran also wrote "I am not complicit", a phrase that, in a statement prompted by mass civilian death, puts him at the centre of his own defence.
Here is what makes the "I don't do politics" line hard to accept. In 2022, Sheeran headlined the Concert for Ukraine. He filmed the video for "2step" in Kyiv with a message standing with Ukraine and gave its royalties to a humanitarian appeal.
He released a remix with Antytila, a Ukrainian band whose members were serving in the army, and brought them onstage in Warsaw in front of 80,000 people, Ukrainian flag raised, children in the crowd.
This month he explained his reticence on Gaza by saying his audience includes children too, and that "there is a reason I do not use my professional platform for politics."
According to Macklemore, Sheeran told him privately that "the words 'Free Palestine' and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with."
The backlash, from everywhere including Sheeran's support acts in the tour, was immediate.
Musician Finneas, Danish band Lukas Graham, Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe and Irish folk band Beoga, who performed with Sheeran nightly, all announced their departures from the tour.
Aaron Rowe, who was booked to open several dates for Sheeran, said the Irish know "genocide, forced famine and violent occupation" too well to stay quiet.
Lukas Graham, of "7 Years" fame, wrote that "nobody's bank balance should decide who gets to speak."
Beoga, the band that co-wrote "Galway Girl" with Sheeran and helped found Irish Artists for Palestine, said playing under these terms "is simply not an option for us."
Finneas, Billie Eilish's brother and musical collaborator, posted that "artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed."
Children's content creator Ms. Rachel said Sheeran had "caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows."
Macklemore, for his part, refused to frame himself as a victim.
I didn't need 10 shows from Ed. I needed 2.
Just few days earlier, Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor won a special jury prize at the Venice International Film Festival for their documentary on the Israeli military's targeting of civilians in Gaza, following a 25-minute standing ovation.
Israel's culture minister, Miki Zohar, responded by moving to revoke their citizenship, calling it a matter of "breach of loyalty to the state and collaboration with the enemy" and warning that "there will be a price to pay".
More than 1,000 members of Israel's own film industry signed a counter-petition defending the filmmakers' right to, in their words, "hold a mirror up to the society in which they exist... even when the reality is difficult."
Around the same time, Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo drew accusations of "antisemitic tropes" from Paramount after criticising its merger with Warner Bros over Gaza ties.
Hundreds of Jewish artists, including Joel Coen and Tony Kushner, signed a letter condemning what they called the "weaponization" of antisemitism charges against critics of Israeli policy.
What 'apolitical' actually means
Ed Sheeran defended himself by saying "there are different approaches to being an advocate for change", and he is not entirely wrong.
Legendary American musician Dolly Parton rarely discussed elections and let her music carry her worldview instead.
But politics in 2026 is not limited to the words shouted from a stage. It is the acts you agree to platform, the promoters you keep, the pressure you accept, and the friend you leave standing outside the building.
By that measure, Sheeran did take a side. He just never had to say which one out loud.
Why Macklemore's 'Free Palestine' matter
Macklemore has spent years speaking about Palestine. He spoke at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Washington in November 2023. In 2024, he released "Hind's Hall", with proceeds pledged to UNRWA.
After his removal from Sheeran's tour, the song returned to prominence. It climbed into the US iTunes top five, while his album "The Heist" returned to the top 10.
He knew that saying "Free Palestine" could have consequences. He said it anyway.
The debate around Sheeran, Macklemore, and the stadium owners is unfolding while Palestinians continue to live with the consequences of the war.
According to Al Jazeera, on 16 September, a damaged residential building in Gaza City collapsed, killing at least 21 Palestinians, including children and injuring others.
Six families had reportedly been living inside the unstable building because they had few alternatives. Rescue workers and residents searched the rubble with limited equipment.
I keep thinking about what happens when suffering turns into statistics.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reports more than 73,400 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli Defense Forces. Half of them were women and children.
At least 10,000 more people are missing and presumed dead under destroyed buildings and rubble.
I keep thinking about what happens when people learn to discuss human catastrophe only through carefully balanced phrases that remove agency.
Language can humanise. Language can also obscure.
I am not suggesting Ed Sheeran to become Macklemore. And I am certainly not suggesting that every artist who remains silent is morally equivalent to someone who actively suppresses speech.
To the Israeli government, the Krafts, the Ellisons, and all the other billionaires who are trying to use the hammer of "antisemitism" on all people speaking out against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians everywhere, your ploy is not working.
On the contrary, you trying to silence anyone speaking out against Israel will create more anti-Israel comments.
