# Macklemore: "The victims are the Palestinian people"

> Dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour over his Gaza politics, Macklemore refused to play the wronged star.
- Title: Macklemore: "The victims are the Palestinian people"
- Summary: Dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour over his Gaza politics, Macklemore refused to play the wronged star. When a famous person loses a gig over speech, the loss is…
- Keywords: macklemore, ed sheeran, gaza, music industry, free speech, victims, Palestinian, people, The Hollywood Reporter
- Source: The Hollywood Reporter — https://hollywoodreporter.com/music/music-news/macklemore-responds-after-removal-from-ed-sheeran-tour-1236700605
- Author: Ethan Millman
- Published: 2026-09-14T17:00:05+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: macklemore, ed sheeran, gaza, music industry, free speech
## Cut from the tour
Macklemore was removed from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour. He answered Monday with a long statement posted to Instagram.
## Venues made the call
Sheeran's tour promoter said earlier that morning that venues threatened to pull out if the rapper was allowed to perform.

> venues threatened to pull out if the rapper was allowed to perform
## He opens by refusing the role
Before anything else, Macklemore rejects the frame everyone expected him to take.

> Before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious. In this moment I think it matters. I am not a victim.
## Nobody famous is the victim
He names the other stars pulled into the story and clears them too, Sheeran and Pink included.

> Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim.
## What a career buys you
Money, safety, global audiences. Whatever the fallout from speaking out, he says, all of them still go home to their families.

> We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world.
## Where he points instead
The statement ends by moving the subject off the tour and off himself entirely.

> The victims are the Palestinian people.
## Key takeaway

When a famous person loses a gig over speech, the loss is real but small next to what they were speaking about.