Woke rapper Macklemore sparks fury with anti-Israel rant at concert
The Israeli-American Council petitioned Ed Sheeran to remove Macklemore from his tour after the rapper used his opening set to call for a free Palestine and accuse Israel of genocide.
Progressive rapper Macklemore has come under fire after using his opening slot at an Ed Sheeran concert to launch an anti-Israel tirade in front of thousands of fans at MetLife Stadium.
The Israeli-American Council launched a petition demanding that British pop star Ed Sheeran remove the rapper from his ongoing tour, according to Ronny Reyes writing in New York Post. The group accused the “Thrift Shop” artist of promoting antisemitic propaganda during what was billed as a mainstream entertainment event.
Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, who performs under the stage name Macklemore, used his set at the New Jersey Meadowlands venue to call for “Free Palestine” and leveled accusations of genocide against Israel over its military operations in Gaza.
The rapper performed his track “Hindi’s Hall,” a song referencing pro-Palestinian demonstrations that disrupted Columbia University’s campus earlier this year, while footage from Gaza played on massive screens behind him.
The Israeli-American Council, which represents over 15,000 Israeli-Americans across the country, made clear that the venue and context were entirely inappropriate for such activism.
“This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event,” the organization stated.
Crossing the Line at a Family Concert
The group stressed that their objection was not about Macklemore’s right to hold political views, but rather about exploiting a concert platform to push a one-sided agenda on an unsuspecting audience.
“The question is where to draw the line when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda,” the IAC argued, adding that the situation was made worse by the use of selective imagery, biased messaging, and disputed claims presented to a massive audience as fact.
The controversy marks yet another instance of entertainment figures using their platform to promote anti-Israel rhetoric, often without providing historical or geopolitical context to audiences who came for music rather than political lectures.
As of publication, Sheeran had not publicly responded to the petition or the controversy surrounding his tour opener’s politically charged performance.
With information from New York Post
