Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium is among a handful of venues that will not feature Macklemore during Ed Sheeran’s current “Loop Tour,” after the “Thrift Shop” artist made a series of statements at recent shows in support of Palestinians and called for a “free Palestine.”
In a Monday morning statement shared with Rolling Stone, the tour’s promoter, Messina Touring Group, told the publication that they “have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”
The Seattle-based rapper, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, was supposed to appear at 10 more venues, including the tour’s final stop on Nov. 7 at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
Bobby Silvest, Tampa Sports Authority Vice President of Marketing and Communications, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay in an email that Macklemore is no longer on the roster for the upcoming show. “We can confirm Macklemore will not be performing at the upcoming show. Apart from this lineup change, the concert will go forward as planned,” said Silvest.
The TSA would not respond to questions as to why exactly Macklemore was barred from performing, but the statement comes just a few months after the publicly-funded stadium faced immense outcry and pressure from Florida politicians and the Jewish community, to cancel shows by “former” Nazi and Grammy-winning rapper Kanye West, also known as “Ye.”
A public records request from CL showed that negotiations between West’s camp and the TSA resulted in atypical language being added to the controversial rapper’s contract, essentially making the shows almost impossible to cancel.
The non-boilerplate language was requested by West’s team, and included a clause that stated the TSA can’t cancel the two shows “based upon artist identity, prior or past public statements, public perception, political viewpoints, or the anticipated or actual content of the performance…”
At the time, the TSA did not cite this clause as the reason for allowing the shows to proceed, and instead told multiple outlets it was bound by the Constitution to allow free speech at a publicly funded stadium.
“We recognize the concerns and viewpoints being expressed about the upcoming events at Raymond James Stadium,” said the Tampa Sports Authority in a statement to various press outlets. “As a public agency, we follow the principles of free speech in operating our venue, although we do not condone remarks or actions from any artists that are offensive and divisive.”
Macklemore has since released a statement, saying he was removed from the tour after billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft led a pressure campaign against Sheeran.
“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” said Macklemore on his social media. “Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”
The TSA did not respond to questions from CL asking if the organization was contacted by Kraft or anyone affiliated with Gillette Stadium.
Earlier this month, the Grammy-winning artist was performing two shows at MetLife Stadium where he performed his protest song “Hind’s Hall,” and showed concert-goers images of the total devastation of Gaza.
“A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: ‘Free Palestine,’” said Macklemore to the audience. “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.”
This story first appeared in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
