Dearborn, Michigan, mayor offers Macklemore free concert after rapper’s ouster from Sheeran tour

Dearborn, Michigan, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud has offered Macklemore a free, city-sponsored concert in his city, one day after the rapper was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour over pro-Palestinian remarks he made onstage.

“If they don’t want you performing in their stadiums, you’re always welcome in Dearborn,” Mr. Hammoud wrote in a Monday night social media post. “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 make it happen.”

Macklemore had not publicly responded to the invitation as of late Tuesday. Dearborn has the largest Muslim population per capita of any U.S. city, and Hammoud, first elected in 2021, is the city’s first Arab American and first Muslim mayor.

The offer came after Macklemore was dropped from the remaining dates of Mr. Sheeran’s Loop Tour. Concert promoter Messina Touring Group said in a statement that venues on the upcoming tour stops had notified organizers they would not host a show with Macklemore on the lineup, “which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.” Macklemore was scheduled to open eight of Sheeran’s 10 remaining U.S. shows.

The rapper’s removal followed remarks he made during performances on Sept. 4 and 5 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, where he told the crowd he wanted to “stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine.” He then performed his 2024 song “Hind’s Hall,” which references a Columbia University building renamed by pro-Palestinian protesters, while images from Gaza played on video screens.

Macklemore has said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium, called Mr. Sheeran to object to his participation and rallied other stadium owners around an ultimatum. Mr. Kraft, who has spent millions on his “Stand Up to Jewish Hate” campaign, said in a statement that Macklemore’s “recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery” crossed a line, though he said he would welcome a conversation with the rapper.

The Anti-Defamation League called Macklemore’s remarks “completely unacceptable,” while the Israeli American Council circulated a petition seeking his removal from the tour. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, by contrast, urged Mr. Sheeran and the tour’s promoters to reverse course, calling on them not to “give in to bullying by billionaires.”

Mr. Sheeran has said the decision to remove Macklemore was made by the tour’s promoter and venues, not by him personally, adding that he does not use his “professional platform for politics.” Mr. Hammoud’s invitation drew its own criticism: ADL Michigan regional director Elyssa Schmier called the city-funded offer “deeply concerning,” saying it “risks further alienating Jewish residents rather than building the trust his office should be modeling.”