Ed Sheeran says promoter, not him, dropped Macklemore from US tour

Ed Sheeran has said he did not drop Macklemore from the United States leg of his Loop Tour. He said the decision was made by the promoter, Messina Touring Group.

Sheeran set out his account in a bulleted statement on Instagram on Tuesday, Sept. 15. That post came one day after Macklemore's removal was announced, according to Billboard.

In the statement, Sheeran said venues on upcoming tour dates had told him they would pull the shows if Macklemore stayed on as the support act, the performer booked to play before the headliner. He said that decision by the venues and the promoter was final.

He also said he had spent the past week talking with stadiums and activists on both sides. He said he had tried to build bridges to find a solution that would keep the dates intact. He was unable to do so.

Messina Touring Group gave its own account on Monday, Sept. 14. It told Rolling Stone it removed Macklemore after concluding that keeping him on would result in cancellation of the tour. The company said that outcome would affect hundreds of thousands of fans.

The removal followed Macklemore's "Free Palestine" demonstration on stage at two shows earlier in the month. Macklemore said on Monday that he was dropped from the US tour after his pro-Palestinian comments, as reported by Reuters. The BBC reported that those on-stage comments came earlier in September, before the removal.

Macklemore has given a different account of who made the call. He stated that Sheeran and his team made the decision to remove him from The Loop tour, according to The Guardian. That version conflicts with Sheeran's statement on Sept. 15 that Messina made the decision.

Macklemore also said that he, Sheeran and Pink were not victims in connection with his removal. He did not expand on that remark in the material verified for this article.

For fans, this means a changed bill but the same headliner. The US dates are still organised around Sheeran. The dispute is about the support slot, and about who called it off and why.