Piers Morgan: saying "free Palestine" was not controversial, and the removal backfired
Piers MorganBroadcaster and host of Piers Morgan Uncensored
Opening a September 16 panel on his show, Piers Morgan said there was nothing much controversial about saying "free Palestine" and that if Robert Kraft meant to silence Macklemore, it had the opposite effect. He said Ed Sheeran deserved some of the criticism he faced, and he suggested that Kraft would not have barred pro-Israel remarks.
“Just about everybody involved in this saga has made a pretty farcical mess of it. Firstly, there's nothing much controversial about saying the words free Palestine.”
Original video
Where this statement fits
Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” speech and removal from Ed Sheeran’s U.S. tour
At two Ed Sheeran concerts at MetLife Stadium, Macklemore called for a free Palestine, accused Israel of apartheid and genocide, and said criticism of Israel was not criticism of Jewish people. After venue objections, tour promoter Messina Touring Group said he would not perform the remaining U.S. Loop Tour dates. Critics characterized the performance as hostile or inappropriate; Macklemore defended it as a call for equal treatment.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Full episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored published to its YouTube channel on September 16, 2026, with Ana Kasparian, Wajahat Ali, Joe Walsh and Luai Ahmed on the panel. In his opening monologue Morgan discusses Macklemore's removal from Ed Sheeran's tour, and at 4:16 he gives his own view before handing to Kasparian. The quoted wording is our transcription of the video audio.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Morgan opened the September 16 episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored with a monologue on the Iran war and then on Robert Kraft's decision to bar Macklemore from Gillette Stadium after his "Free Palestine" remarks, and the departure of Ed Sheeran's other supporting acts.
After the quotation
Morgan played a Fox News clip of Jesse Watters saying he did not think the words were hate speech, and said that if Kraft meant to silence Macklemore it had the opposite effect. Introducing the panel, he said he thought Macklemore did it as a deliberate stunt, that Sheeran knew whom he was booking, and asked whether Kraft would have barred pro-Israeli remarks, answering no and saying there seemed to be double standards all over the place.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case concerns Macklemore's Free Palestine speech at Ed Sheeran's concerts and his removal from the remaining U.S. dates. Morgan says the words were not controversial and that Kraft applied a double standard. He also calls the speech a deliberate stunt, but on the speech itself he sides with Macklemore, so we labeled it as defending the speech.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Ed Sheeran, Robert Kraft
More from this case
Read the full caseMacklemore answers the peers who sought to stop his Wembley show
“This is a story tonight of love. And regardless of what them 50 Lords have to say, this is a story of equality for all human beings around this Earth.”Read statement
Macklemore tells Dublin crowd the words "free Palestine" are "so threatening to some people"
“those two words are so threatening to some people. They would rather silence those two words than confront what they actually mean. Because freedom that requires another person’s oppression is not freedom at all.”Read statement
Jack Antonoff says Ed Sheeran "missed a massive, beautiful opportunity" to cancel his tour
“They’re going to let some fucking promoter tell me what I can say? Don’t book me. I’ll play for free outside. [Ed Sheeran] missed a massive, beautiful opportunity there: just cancel the whole fucking tour, then play for free outside each venue, raise a bunch of money, rather than let a fucking billionaire tell you what to do.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Piers Morgan: saying "free Palestine" was not controversial, and the removal backfired
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/7769-opening-a-september-16-panel-on-his-show
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Piers Morgan: saying "free Palestine" was not controversial, and the removal backfired". First published: 2026-11-02. Last updated: 2026-11-02. https://disputeindex.com/events/7769-opening-a-september-16-panel-on-his-show