Kneecap, Bob Vylan, Greta Thunburg and more rally behind Macklemore following Ed Sheeran tour drop

Macklemore had only performed two shows as part of the US leg of Sheeran's Loop tour before being dropped from the remaining shows. This came after a performance at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium on 4 September, when the rapper addressed the audience calling for solidarity with Palestine. "A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so that I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very, very dear to my heart: Free Palestine," he announced. This led to criticism from the campaign group StopAntisemitism, who expressed that "Jewish fans bought tickets to see Ed Sheeran sing... not to be ambushed by Macklemore's anti-Israel propaganda." While Macklemore stated that he did not intend to criticise Jewish fans the following night, he received further backlash that was followed up with a petition from the Israeli-American Council calling for Macklemore to be removed from the tour. Macklemore took to social media to address the situation himself, confirming that he was dropped following a series of "difficult conversations" with Sheeran, his longtime friend of over a decade. Read his full statement below: The artist has since received a...