ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
‘Free Palestine’: Ed Sheeran opener goes off rails
Inbar Cohen
September 6, 2026

British pop star Ed Sheeran’s concert in the New York metropolitan area on Friday turned into a political flashpoint that left a number of concertgoers stunned. The controversy began when American rapper Macklemore’s opening set at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, veered sharply from music into an overt political demonstration. Macklemore did not confine himself to the music. The rapper took the massive stage wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh and called out “Free Palestine” to tens of thousands of concertgoers. For Israeli and Jewish members of the audience, however, that was only the beginning. READ MORE

SHOWBIZ 411 Ed Sheeran Has a Problem as Opening Act Macklemore, Anti-Israel Rapper, Performs “Free Free Palestine!” Song at MetLife Stadium Does Ed Sheeran need more trouble? His sales are way off in the last few years. He decamped from Atlantic Records because they couldn’t market him anymore. He barely survived a plagiarism trial with the estate of Marvin Gaye. Does he really want the stink of Macklemore to follow him around? This suggests that Sheeran supports Macklemore’s ideas, which are abhorrent.