Singer Macklemore has been dropped from Ed Sheeran's US concert tour after the rapper's “Free Palestine” speeches on stage. 

In a lengthy Instagram post Macklemore revealed his removal from Ed Sheeran’s U.S tour. The rapper claimed Mr Sheeran came under pressure from American stadium owners to drop him. 

Founder of music site Nialler9, Dj and podcaster Niall Byrne, joined the Claire Byrne Show to discuss the controversy.

The pair have been longtime friends. Macklemore said in his post that they have been friends for over 13 years and “he was like a brother to him”.

Mr Byrne said that given their friendship and Macklemore's reputation for pro-Palestinian advocacy, Ed Sheeran should have known what was going to happen.

“Ed Sheeran is one of the biggest artists on the planet, and as Ed Sheeran himself says, he wants to remain apolitical. Even though, in the past, Ed Sheeran has shown support for Ukraine and has delved into issues around Brexit. He said in this case, he wanted to remain apolitical," said Mr Byrne.

“Unfortunately for him, he’s dealing with these huge tours, huge stadiums and people who don’t agree with what Macklemore said, he has been dragged into this. He’s been forced to take a side, and he’s taken a side. He’s taken the side of the billionaire owners,” he said. 

Mr Byrne drew comparisons with Irish and UK artists like Kneecap and Bob Vylan, and alleged attempts to silence them. However, he noted that we haven’t seen it on this level, in terms of a big American artist. 

According to the Instagram post, Ed Sheeran told Macklemore that Robert Craft, the stadium owner, had “rallied a group of people and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”

Macklemore said he understood Ed Sheeran was in a tough situation, but Mr Byrne thinks that “it’s an opportunity for somebody like Ed Sheeran, one of the biggest artists on the planet, to actually make a statement, say something, do something and show solidarity”.

“He doesn’t need the money. He could have moved the tour somewhere else,” he said.

The argument was made that Mr Sheeran was considering his fans who bought tickets and organised accommodation, and that you have to think of these things as an artist.