What Everyone's Missing About the Ed Sheeran-Macklemore Drama | Guests: Danny Burmawi & Orlando Salazar | 9/16/26
September 16, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readWhat Everyone's Missing About the Ed Sheeran-Macklemore Drama
Glenn Beck opened his September 16, 2026 program by playing audio of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticizing Robert Kraft for banning Macklemore from performing at Gillette Stadium after the rapper used his opening slot on Ed Sheeran's tour to lead "Free Palestine" chants and display images of Gaza on screen. Ocasio-Cortez called it a case of "a handful of stadium owners and the elite" silencing speech. Beck's response: "It's cancel culture. That's what you're saying, AOC. It sucks, doesn't it? When you can get a handful of groups together and they can put pressure on... I can't take the hypocrisy."
The Mechanics of the Dispute
The sequence of events matters. Macklemore joined Sheeran's tour specifically, he told the crowd, so he could "stand in stadiums all across America and say two words: Free Palestine." He performed his protest song written for Columbia University students who had taken over a building, with images of Gaza on screens. He did it a second night. Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium outright, barred Macklemore from the building. Kraft said it "crossed a line," pointing to what he called a broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery. The promoters then confirmed Macklemore was off the tour.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (04:14) **AOC's Hypocrisy on Cancel Culture** - Glenn plays an AOC clip condemning the "elite" silencing speech on Gaza, then calls out her hypocrisy for ignoring the same dynamic when it targets conservatives.
- 2 (06:08) **The Ed Sheeran-Macklemore Saga Unfolds** - Glenn lays out the facts: Macklemore used his opening slot to shout "Free Palestine," Robert Kraft banned him from Gillette Stadium, and Ed Sheeran kept his opinion private to protect his crew.
- 3 (10:13) **The Forgotten Man: The Crew Member** - Glenn highlights a single tweet that remembered the "guy who hangs the lights," arguing that Ed Sheeran's decision to stay quiet was actually a decision to keep 10,000 workers employed.
- 4 (13:54) **The City-Owned Stadium Problem** - Glenn pivots to a key constitutional distinction: most stadiums on the tour are city-owned, which changes the free speech calculus entirely.
- 5 (15:22) **The Shostakovich Analogy: Compelled Speech Reveals Nothing** - Glenn tells the story of Soviet composer Shostakovich, who was forced to publicly agree with a false state critique to save his family.
- 6 (19:27) **Glenn's Clear Position on October 7th** - Glenn states he is not neutral on the October 7th atrocities, calling it one of the clearest evils of his lifetime.
- 7 (20:38) **The Question You Are Constantly Handed** - Glenn applies the lesson of compelled speech to daily life, from work group chats to school, where you are asked to declare your pronouns.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) was confronted by TMZ and explained why she's boycotting Ed Sheeran as the drama surrounding his tour and Macklemore's removal continues. Since then, every opening act and Sheeran's touring band have dropped out of the show. Glenn breaks down the Left's hypocrisy in this instance, the impossible situation Ed Sheeran was placed in, and how almost nobody is thinking about the hardworking people who will be left empty-handed if the tour gets canceled. Glenn explains how both the Rose Garden unsealing of a Russian assassination-network indictment and the public acknowledgment of U.S. space weapons look like a coordinated warning signal to Moscow and China. Former Muslim Danny Burmawi joins to discuss why he proudly identifies as an "infidel" as he breaks down the dangers rooted within Islam. Does Senate candidate James Talarico (D-Texas) have a chance at turning Texas blue? Glenn, Jason, and Rikki go through some of the worst Talarico statements that should end his campaign in Texas. Voz Media founder and CEO Orlando Salazar joins to discuss whether Hispanics can be convinced not to be one-issue voters on immigration enforcement.
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