Sheeran's US tour crumbles as support acts quit, fans can't resell tickets and stadium owner claims singer asked him to match $2m donation
From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.
Macklemore, whose $1 million pledge to Palestinian relief has reignited debate over resurfaced photos of him in a costume critics have condemned as an anti-Semitic Jewish disguise.Ed Sheeran, whose remaining Loop Tour support acts — Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga — have all quit in solidarity with Macklemore following the rapper's dismissal.Robert Kraft, who has announced a joint $2 million donation with Ed Sheeran to Palestinian relief groups in direct response to Macklemore's challenge.A Classic Hits Radio Ireland-branded car. The broadcaster's home country is represented by folk band Beoga, one of four Loop Tour support acts to quit Ed Sheeran's tour in solidarity with Macklemore.
Robert Kraft, the billionaire stadium owner who pushed for Macklemore's removal from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour, has claimed Sheeran personally called him to ask him to match a $2 million humanitarian donation to the region. All four of Sheeran's remaining support acts — Finneas, Lukas Graham, Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga — have quit in solidarity with Macklemore, while fans are struggling to resell tickets as prices sink on secondary sites.
Billy Bragg warned Sheeran the row 'could make him a pariah' and urged him to cancel rather than let 'billionaires decide what can be said at his gigs'.
Sheeran has shed roughly 150,000 Instagram followers since the row erupted, while Macklemore gained over 750,000 in the same period.
Shane MacGowan's widow Victoria Mary Clarke and broadcaster Richard Bacon have both waded in — Clarke urging Sheeran to 'make a stand for Palestine', Bacon defending him as 'a good person' and promptly drawing his own torrent of abuse.
