Macklemore Faces Backlash Over Free Palestine Chant and Antisemitism
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Right 100%
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What happened
Rapper Macklemore (Benjamin Hammond Haggerty) opened for Ed Sheeran on the Loop Tour and, at a MetLife Stadium concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey, chanted "Free Palestine," accused Israel of genocide in Gaza, wore a keffiyeh, and had related messages shown on the jumbotron. He was subsequently dropped from the remaining eight dates of the tour. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Gillette Stadium were involved in removing him over the remarks. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Washington Examiner columnist Joe Concha then publicly criticized the performance.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 3 articles
2 of 2 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.
What these terms mean and how they're counted
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- On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: Macklemore and Mike Huckabee
- Primary evidence · cites a document or data 0 of 2
- Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: None cited.
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- How it developed
- When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Sep 17, 16:59 UTC by Breitbart, naming its source.
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This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
ONE-SIDED THIS WEEK.
Only right-leaning outlets have covered this story in the last two days;
NBC News reported it on 2026-09-14.
Omitted — what each side leaves out
Unpacked
Right-leaning coverage reports that Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour after chanting for a free Palestine and accusing Israel of genocide from the MetLife Stadium stage, and it frames those acts as antisemitism. Left-leaning coverage has not covered the episode. A long prior record appears in only some of the right-leaning writeups, including a 2014 costume in Breitbart, while Fox News instead foregrounds Ambassador Mike Huckabee. A reader of the silent side would not learn that remaining tour dates were cancelled or that a U.S. ambassador called the rapper the "voice" of Jew hatred.
An emphasis split runs through the right-leaning coverage. One account opens on a years-long "hate parade." The competing lead is the cancellation fight, which Fox News hangs on Huckabee and the stadium owners.
Who actually issued the firing, and in what words?
Bottom line
Macklemore's removal from eight leftover Ed Sheeran dates is being reported only on the right; left-leaning outlets have not published the firing or Huckabee's rebuke.
The receipts — 2 facts one side's coverage lacks
- Macklemore was photographed performing a Nazi salute while in the 2014 costume
- In 2009 Macklemore posted that Bush knocked down the towers on 9/11
The Right View
Right-leaning outlets report that Macklemore’s onstage "Free Palestine" chants and genocide accusation during the Ed Sheeran tour led to his removal from remaining shows, including action tied to Robert Kraft and Gillette Stadium. They frame the episode as part of a years-long pattern, citing a 2014 Seattle appearance in a costume with a fake hooked nose, black wig and beard plus a Nazi salute (Macklemore said it was not meant to portray a Jewish person and later apologized); a 2009 post that "bush knocked down the towers" (he said he was quoting song lyrics); the 2024 song "Hind’s Hall," which they say praises Students for Justice in Palestine; a 2024 Seattle benefit where he said "Fuck America," after which a Las Vegas festival booking was cancelled; and earlier comments on white privilege. Ambassador Mike Huckabee called him the "voice of Jew hatred" taking a pro-Hamas position and cited the October 7 Hamas attacks. Joe Concha said Macklemore turned an opening set into an unwanted campus-style protest and should go to Gaza if that passionate.
Our Take (balanced)
The story is substantive: it is built on a public concert, the artist’s own onstage statements, a documented removal from named remaining tour dates involving specific stadiums and owners, and on-the-record remarks by Huckabee and Concha. Past incidents cited are specific dated performances, posts, and songs, several of which Macklemore has publicly addressed or apologized for; labeling those as antisemitism is the outlets’ framing, not independently adjudicated here. No left-leaning outlet has reported this. Watch for statements from Macklemore, Ed Sheeran or tour promoters, confirmation of which dates were cut, and any further venue or artist responses.
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