Michael Rapaport slams 'clown' Macklemore for anti-Israel performance
Concertgoers Divided as Macklemore Infuses Ed Sheeran Show with Pro-Palestinian Messaging
East Rutherford, N.J. — A routine stop on Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour turned contentious this weekend when opening act Macklemore used the MetLife Stadium platform to deliver a forceful pro-Palestinian message, drawing sharply divided reactions from a crowd gathered for music, not politics.
The incident unfolded during Sheeran’s Friday and Saturday night performances, where Macklemore, whose legal name is Benjamin Haggerty, spent his set calling for “Free Palestine,” delivering a prepared speech, and performing his song “Hind’s Hall.” The track, inspired by last year’s pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations, references the occupation of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University and features imagery from Gaza and pro-Palestinian rallies projected across the stadium’s large screens.
Macklemore, who has been outspoken in his support for Palestinians since the start of the Israel-Hamas war — including a November 2023 rally in Washington, D.C., where he told attendees, “I don’t know enough. But I know enough that this is a genocide” — told the Saturday audience he wanted to use stadiums across America to advocate for a cause he described as deeply personal. In a video shared from the Friday show, he was seen walking the stage in a keffiyeh, repeatedly chanting “Free Palestine!” as music played.
“I said, ‘Free Palestine!’ I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them,” Macklemore told the crowd, according to video posted online. He went on to speak about his 11-year-old daughter, Sloan, and expressed a wish that all children grow up knowing safety and peace rather than the sounds of violence. “And if I let that fear I felt on the plane yesterday stop me from speaking my heart in order to keep my own comfort and the audience’s comfort, that is the day I no longer continue to be on stage,” he said. He concluded his set by calling for the freedom of America, Cuba, the Congo, Sudan, Iran, and denouncing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The performance polarized the audience. Several concertgoers who had attended with families said they were caught off guard. One fan, who asked not to be named, told reporters he had brought his wife and two daughters, longtime Sheeran fans, to the Friday show expecting a night of music. When Macklemore began chanting “Free Palestine,” his daughters, he said, looked “completely confused.” The family left their seats during the set and returned only after Macklemore finished, calling Sheeran’s main set “phenomenal” but criticizing the decision to allow the political messaging on stage.
“Friday might have been Macklemore’s decision. Saturday was yours,” the concertgoer wrote on X, adding, “Tonight, you lost four of them. And I suspect plenty more.” Another attendee who rented a company suite for 35 people said he was “embarrassed” and “shocked” by the opener’s turn. “When you go WOKE, you have to be prepared to lose fans,” he wrote, noting he had always been a Macklemore fan but could no longer support him after what he called a “political stunt.” He said he went to the show to hear “amazing music,” not “Free Palestine” rants.
For some, the moment was deeply hurtful. Two concertgoers who spoke with an Israeli news outlet said they were unaware Macklemore would be performing until he took the stage. “We only found out there and we were in shock. It was really horrifying,” they said. “It was even harder because friends of ours were killed in the war and murdered at Nova. It was like a knife in the heart to hear him sing that way and hear people cheering.” They said some in their group began crying and left before Sheeran took the stage.
Not all reactions were critical. A number of social media users praised Macklemore for using his platform to speak on what he called a humanitarian issue. Posts on Instagram and X hailed the moment as historic, with comments such as “Huge respect for Ed Sheeran, but seeing Macklemore use his voice for Palestine made this moment mean so much more” and “Calling for peace, safety, and equality for Palestinians, Congolese, and Sudanese isn’t antisemitic—it’s pro-humanity.” One fan wrote that “art has always been political, why are you annoyed at an artist giving context to a song he released about the current state of the world you live in?”
The backlash prompted a fiery response from actor and comedian Michael Rapaport, a Jewish voice who has become prominent in recent months for his pro-Israel commentary. On X, Rapaport posted, “Imagine going to see Ed Sheeran & this absolute no talent none singer non rapping non dancing clown Macklemore is opening & because he actually has no act or specific skill set he’s jumping around like dkc carrying on about a genocide that never happened in Gaza,” adding, “This is a nightmare.” He also questioned Sheeran’s judgment: “So Ed Sheeran is ok with this p-stain opening up for him? Sweet Ed Sheeran?” Rapaport reposted an article summarizing the backlash, writing, “Calling this dude a ‘Rapper’ is disrespectful to any actual ‘Rapper.’”
In the wake of the controversy, the Israeli-American Council launched a petition calling for Macklemore to be removed from the remaining dates of Sheeran’s Loop Tour. The petition states, in part: “This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event. The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views. The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to representatives for both Macklemore and Sheeran for comment. As of publication, no official response had been released from either camp.
Macklemore’s advocacy is not new. Since the October 2023 attacks in Israel, he has consistently used his public profile to address the conflict, and his messaging has drawn both support and criticism in the past. His decision to bring the message to a mainstream pop audience has reignited debate over the role of artists on political issues, the expectations of audiences attending large-scale concerts, and the boundaries of a performance space.
As Sheeran’s tour continues across the United States, it remains unclear whether further protest or support will greet the rapper at subsequent stops. What is clear is that the intersection of music, activism, and current events showed no signs of staying off the stage this weekend.