Macklemore turns a stadium ban into a $1 million pledge, and now the whole Ed Sheeran tour is in chaos
Dropped from Sheeran's Loop Tour after saying 'Free Palestine' at MetLife Stadium, Macklemore announced he'll donate his entire $1 million in tour earnings to Palestinian aid organizations and challenged Robert Kraft to match him. Kraft did. Sort of.
In brief
Macklemore turns a stadium ban into a $1 million pledge, and now the whole Ed Sheeran tour is in chaos
It started with two words at MetLife Stadium. It ended with no opening acts, $3 million in competing pledges, and Ed Sheeran himself saying publicly that he's "had to take and make difficult decisions." The Macklemore situation moved faster this week than almost anything else in pop culture, and as of Saturday morning it still isn't fully resolved.
Here is what happened, in order. In September 2026, Ed Sheeran and his team removed Macklemore as a supporting act from the Loop Tour after Macklemore made onstage "free Palestine" statements during two performances in New Jersey. Specifically, opening for Sheeran at MetLife Stadium, the rapper wore a black-and-white keffiyeh tied around his neck and told the crowd, "A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place, was so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine." He then sang "Hind's Hall" as images from the destruction in Gaza played on the stadium screens. He did it again the second night.
The removal came after pressure from pro-Israel advocacy groups and venue owners, including American pro-Israel businessman Robert Kraft. Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, said he would bar Macklemore from performing at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. Macklemore was removed from the rest of Sheeran's stadium tour after several venues told the trek's promoter they would not allow him to perform. Messina Touring Group, promoter of the U.S. leg of the Loop Tour, stated: "We 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."
Then everything got louder. By September 15, all of the remaining opening acts for the tour, including Aaron Rowe, Finneas, and Lukas Graham, as well as Irish band Beoga, had withdrawn in solidarity with Macklemore and the Palestinian people. Sheeran said, "I've had to take and make difficult decisions," as his Loop Tour was thrown into chaos. In his statement, Sheeran wrote: "I am appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars across the world causing immeasurable pain, none of which should be tolerated."
Macklemore's countermove landed Wednesday. Macklemore announced plans to donate $1 million in net earnings from Sheeran's tour to Palestinian support groups, and asked Robert Kraft to match the pledge. In the post, he named six specific organizations: Palestine Children's Relief Fund, Heal Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, UNRWA USA National Committee, and Anera. He appeared to place the blame squarely on Kraft, saying the mogul had rallied other stadium owners to refuse to allow him to perform at their venues.
Kraft fired back quickly. Kraft issued a statement saying Sheeran had already asked him, before Macklemore's public challenge, to commit $2 million to match Sheeran's own donation to aid in the region. "Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners," Kraft said, "and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges." A rep for Kraft separately declined to comment on Macklemore's personal request. Whether the $2 million was a preemptive move or a face-saving response to being called out publicly is, per the reporting, genuinely unclear.
Macklemore's removal drew public expressions of support from several figures including Zara Larsson, Greta Thunberg, Florence Pugh, Penélope Cruz, Kehlani, Cara Delevingne, Pink Floyd, Amanda Seyfried, Bella Hadid, Hozier, and Lewis Hamilton. On the other side, Kraft had cited "a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery" in his original statement barring Macklemore from Gillette. Macklemore disputed that characterization. He said that "criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism" of Jewish people.
The tour itself keeps moving. The North American leg runs through November 7 in Tampa, Florida, and Sheeran's next show was set for September 19 in Philadelphia. Those dates proceed without any opening acts at all. NBC News noted that Macklemore committed to donating his net earnings from the Loop Tour after he was dropped for making pro-Palestinian comments onstage at MetLife Stadium. According to Pitchfork, Macklemore pledged to donate $1 million in Ed Sheeran tour earnings to Palestine aid and invited Robert Kraft to match him.
For context on the tour's scale: the Loop Tour is in support of Sheeran's eighth studio album, Play, and has logged 754,050 in attendance across 17 shows, grossing $98.6 million at the box office for that stretch alone. Macklemore was confirmed as an opening act only on August 24, 2026. Less than a month on the bill, and the whole structure collapsed around him.
As a footnote to a very loud week in L.A. culture: the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art held its opening night celebration on September 19, co-chaired by Tom Cruise, Greta Gerwig, Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro, and Pharrell Williams, with the museum opening to the public Tuesday, September 22. Deadline reported that George Lucas hosted friends including Oprah Winfrey, Guillermo del Toro, Laura Dern, Mark Hamill, Spike Lee, and Greta Gerwig to celebrate the launch of his 11-acre campus. A mural of Macklemore, painted on rubble in Gaza City, was photographed on September 19, per Forbes. That image circulated across social media on the same night Hollywood was toasting George Lucas in Exposition Park.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
