Mayor invites Macklemore to perform after Ed Sheeran tour removal

• At a Sep. 4 MetLife Stadium show opening for Sheeran, Macklemore said "Free Palestine" on stage and performed his song "Hind's Hall," about the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian protests. 
• On Sep. 14, tour promoter Messina Touring Group announced Macklemore would be dropped from the remaining tour dates after venues said they wouldn't host shows with him on the bill. 

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud has extended an open invitation to Macklemore to perform in the Michigan city, just hours after the rapper was dropped from Ed Sheeran's US tour over pro-Palestinian remarks he made from the stage.

"Hey @macklemore, if they don't want you performing in their stadiums, you're always welcome in Dearborn," Hammoud wrote on X on Sep. 14. He offered to have the city sponsor a free concert, adding that Dearborn stands "for a free Palestine."

Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran's tour on Sep. 14, ten days after he addressed the crowd during his opening set at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 

On stage, the Seattle rapper explained that part of his motivation for joining the tour was the chance to say "Free Palestine" in front of stadium-sized crowds, telling the audience he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they hadn't been forgotten. 

He followed the remarks with a performance of his 2024 song "Hind's Hall," which references the pro-Palestinian campus protests at Columbia University that followed the killing of 5-year-old Hind Rajab. 

The fallout was swift. Messina Touring Group, the US promoter for Sheeran's tour, said venues on the remaining dates had indicated they would not host a show with Macklemore on the bill, threatening to derail the tour entirely. After conversations with those involved, the promoter said, Macklemore would be pulled from the rest of the support dates.

Macklemore had been booked to open eight of the ten remaining stops, including a show at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Patriots and Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft said in a statement that the decision to remove Macklemore stemmed not only from the MetLife comments but also from what he described as a pattern of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery from the artist that has hurt the Jewish community.

Macklemore responds

In an Instagram post on Sep. 14, Macklemore pushed back on the idea that anything he said was new, noting he's made similar remarks on stage for years. He argued the difference now was scale, performing alongside one of the world's biggest artists in massive stadiums raised the stakes around the same message.

 He also said he didn't hold Sheeran responsible for what happened, but that he'd told him directly that their friendship couldn't outweigh his obligation to speak honestly about events.

Hey @macklemore, if they don’t want you performing in their stadiums, you’re always welcome in Dearborn.

Come put on a show here. We’ll make it a free concert, sponsored by the City, and help make it one of the best around.

We stand with you and for a free Palestine.

Let’s… https://t.co/Y9NnJT8HGn

— Abdullah H. Hammoud (@AHammoudMI) September 15, 2026

The Dearborn connection

Dearborn, home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the country, has a mayor in Hammoud who has been vocal on Palestinian issues throughout his tenure. 

His public offer to host Macklemore for a free, city-sponsored concert positions the city as a welcoming alternative just as the rapper's stadium tour opportunities have narrowed. 

As of now, Macklemore has not publicly responded to the invitation.