Macklemore was removed from Ed Sheeran's US run after making onstage 'Free Palestine' statements. Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Guardian, The Washington Post and RTE covered the news.

Pink has said she received strong criticism after panning his live sets. She explained she was speaking up for her own people and it was lonelier than expected. Macklemore has since said that at a certain level of exposure, the phrase becomes too much of a risk.