Waters criticizes decision to remove Macklemore over Palestine support

Roger Waters backs Macklemore after Palestine support gets him dropped from tour

Roger Waters defended U.S. rapper Macklemore, who was removed from Ed Sheeran’s tour because of his support for Palestine, and sharply criticized the decision. Waters counted Macklemore among those doing the right thing while targeting Sheeran in harsh terms.

Scraper SystemSeptember 17, 2026, 11:03 AM

Roger Waters backs Macklemore after Palestine support gets him dropped from tour

Roger Waters supported U.S. rapper Macklemore, who was removed from concerts on Ed Sheeran’s tour because of his support for Palestine, and sharply criticized Sheeran in a video message he published after the decision.

The video shared by Waters, one of the founders of Pink Floyd, on X began with the words, “Who is Ed?” As Waters pointed to the portraits behind him, they included Palestinian artist Bisan Owda, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, and a woman from Gaza.

Waters said people in the world could be divided into two groups: those who “do the right thing” and those who “do the wrong thing.” He cited Macklemore as an example of someone doing the right thing, while placing Sheeran among those doing the wrong thing and using harsh language about him.

Filistin'e destek veren Macklemore'un turneden çıkarılması sonrası Roger Waters'tan Ed Sheeran'a tepki: Aşağılık | Aktüel Haberleri

Macklemore’s support for Palestine

Grammy Award-winning artist Macklemore has publicly expressed his support for Palestine several times since the start of Israel’s attacks on Gaza in 2023. Following these statements, the rapper was removed from the remaining concerts on Sheeran’s U.S. tour.

Macklemore donated the proceeds from “Hind’s Hall 2,” a song he created with Palestinian artists to support Gaza, to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Israel’s allegations against UNRWA were described as baseless.