Two Irish acts have pulled out of Ed Sheeran’s US tour after rapper Macklemore said he was dropped from the line-up for saying “Free Palestine” during a concert.

Irish acts Aaron Rowe and Beoga on Tuesday confirmed they will no longer take part in Sheeran’s North American tour, The Loop.

“I don’t take the decision lightly,” Rowe said in a post on social media. “Ed has been a friend to me and has changed my life, I could never thank him enough for this.

“But as Irish people, we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation.

“I cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children. I would lose all respect for myself to carry on as normal.

“I need to be true to myself and my ancestors who resisted colonisation, and fought for a freedom that I enjoy today in Ireland.”

The Dublin singer-songwriter finished the statement with the words: “FREE PALESTINE.”

Folk band Beoga feature on Sheeran’s 2017 song Galway Girl.

In a statement on social media, the band said they decided to depart the tour “following the silencing of Macklemore”.

Beoga said: “We are a traditional Irish band who never saw ourselves playing in stadiums of that size and that opportunity is not lost on us.

“We have been friends with Ed for over 10 years now and will continue to be. We believe in dialogue as a means of progressing the plight of the Palestinian people.

“As musicians, playing to those crowds every night is the stuff of dreams but to play in venues that silence anyone advocating for a Free Palestine is simply not an option for us…

“As founding members of the Irish Artists for Palestine movement, we are committed activists for justice and will continue to be.”

Other acts including Finneas and Lukas Graham have also dropped out of the tour in solidarity with Macklemore.

The controversy began when the rapper, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, said during a concert in New Jersey on September 4th that he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten, telling the crowd: “Free Palestine.”

Following his comments, a petition was launched demanding he be removed from the remaining dates of the tour. The singer Pink was among those to repost a message criticising his comments.

In a post on Monday, Macklemore confirmed he had left the tour but said he was “not a victim”.

“I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world.

“Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.

“The victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence.

“More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don’t lose sight of that.”

Macklemore went on to claim that Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns the Gillette Stadium in Boston that Sheeran is due to play in later this month, had contacted Sheeran to say he would not be able to play there unless Macklemore was removed from the tour.

A statement from Kraft described Macklemore’s comments as “hate speech” and accused the rapper of “a broader history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community”.

Kraft said the rapper’s participation in gigs at the stadium on September 25th and 26th would cross a line.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, Sheeran said: “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.”

While Sheeran said he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and that the “suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy”, he also attempted to explain his decision to keep political issues at arm’s length.

“I am not complicit,” he wrote. “I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.” – Additional reporting from PA