A lot has been said about Macklemore being kicked off Ed Sheeran's tour, and now, Dolly Parton's sister, Stella, has come to the rapper's defense.
Parton took to X, formerly Twitter, to show her support of Macklemore. She was âÂÂsounding the alarm,â calling it âÂÂdireâ if artists are being removed from a tour for âÂÂsimply calling out genocide in Gaza.
âÂÂIâÂÂm here to sound the alarm again today as IâÂÂve been doing since 2016,â she wrote. âÂÂWe are in a dire situation when a performer is pulled from a tour for simply calling out genocide in Gaza.âÂÂ
Macklemore's âÂÂFree Palestineâ comments got him removed from Ed Sheeran's tour
During Macklemore's opening sets on Sheeran's Loop Tour shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sep. 4 and 5, he made a political speech, declaring âÂÂFree Palestine.âÂÂ
This caused a stir, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft allegedly called Sheeran, presenting him with an âÂÂultimatum.â Kraft wasn't going to let Macklemore perform at Gillette Stadium, and other stadium owners felt the same way. They weren't going to let Sheeran perform in their venues if he kept Macklemore on the marquee.
In turn, Macklemore was dropped from the tour. Kraft explained the decision, claiming that he didn't want to âÂÂprovide a platform for hate speech.â He also said he was not âÂÂdiminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf.âÂÂ
âÂÂGillette Stadium has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech,â Kraft said. âÂÂBased on 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 that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.âÂÂ

