Macklemore

That weekend, IAC launched a petition asking Sheeran, his promoter, and the venues to remove Macklemore from the remaining dates, and more than 18,000 people signed.

Ms. Rachel, whose given name is Rachel Accurso, has been a vocal activist for Gazan children since the outset of the Israel-Hamas war and has held several fundraisers to aid the people in Gaza. 

Sheeran also decried "systemic injustice" in the West Bank, where Israel's right-wing coalition government has allowed a massive expansion of ⁠Jewish settlements.

Paloma Faith criticized Ed Sheeran for staying out of the Gaza debate after Macklemore’s tour removal, saying major artists cannot remain apolitical as she defended the rapper’s activism.

Macklemore once apologized after a controversial costume drew accusations of antisemitism. A decade later, his pro-Palestinian activism and criticism of Israel have sparked renewed backlash.

The mural, on a slab that leans against ruined buildings surrounded by rubble, depicts the "Thrift Shop" rapper raising a fist in the air.

We should stop defending ourselves against the accusation and start challenging the accusation itself.

"I have supported efforts that create opportunity for Palestinians and have brought young Palestinians and Israelis together," Kraft said in a statement.

AOC said earlier on Wednesday that she is boycotting Sheeran over the Macklemore controversy, accusing pro-Israel philanthropist Robert Kraft of attempting to censor speech on "the genocide in Gaza."

“I am not complicit,” Sheeran wrote in a statement on Instagram Tuesday, saying that Macklemore leaving the tour “was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.