Guitar Center’s competition to open for Ed Sheeran has been flooded with Free Palestine memes
Ever fancied opening for a chart-topping artist like Ed Sheeran? Well, these days you might be alone in that camp. Following Macklemore’s removal from the Loop Tour on 14 September for his “free Palestine” speech, every support act – including Sheeran’s own backing band, Beoga – has dropped out. The collective withdrawal was an act of solidarity with Macklemore – and now, netizens are also showing their support by flooding a Guitar Center competition to open for Sheeran with false entries.
The competition in question, Open For Legends, was launched on the same day that Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran’s tour. Of course, the very next day on 15 September, all of Sheeran’s support acts dropped out, with the likes of Finneas stating on Instagram “artists should not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed”, while Sheeran’s own band, Beoga, were strongly against the “silencing of Macklemore by zionist lobbies”. With Sheeran now in desperate need of new support, the competition took on a new significance.
READ MORE: Noel Gallagher reveals the “best bit of advice I’ve ever been given” from Johnny Marr about buying guitars
For online supporters of Macklemore’s message, the competition came as a perfect opportunity to show their support. With the only rules being that you must be over 18 and hold a valid US passport, it was essentially a free for all; according to Entertainment Weekly, the Open For Legends submission site was “flooded with memes and pro-Palestine messages criticising Sheeran”.
With the voting system entirely in the hands of the public before going to a panel of judges, it also meant that netizens flocked to the site to vote for the ‘troll’ entries. It lead to the website being overran with meme posts, vastly overshadowing any ‘real’ entries. Think Taylor Swift’s 2012 contest where a public vote decided that she should perform at Horace Mann’s school for the deaf , or when an online poll in 2010 tried to send Justin Bieber’s North Korea…
For the internet, this Guitar Center competition was a way of voicing protest en masse. Since the onslaught of posts, however, Guitar Center has taken action and removed any ‘false’ entries… but you can still see an archived version of the contest homepage.
people are just submitting random videos, some captioned free Palestine https://t.co/Z4llkqPJQF pic.twitter.com/GC8fPqMImm
— jennine (@jennineak) September 16, 2026
“Guitar Center has long been committed to supporting musicians at every stage of their journey and creating opportunities for artists to share their talent with the world,” the company told Entertainment Weekly. “The Open for Legends competition series was developed months ago as part of that broader commitment and is designed to create opportunities for musicians to perform on major stages alongside a range of artists.”
“As with any open submission process, we received entries that were not legitimate applications to participate in the program,” the statement continued. “Those submissions will not be considered so that the opportunity can remain focused on musicians who are seeking to showcase their talent.”
“We’re continuing to review and manage the program in accordance with its intended purpose and look forward to recognising and supporting talented musicians through the initiative.”
@kaitlin_ml
@Macklemore opening for @Ed Sheeran @MetLife Stadium #macklemore #edsheeran #friday #metlifestadium #fyp
♬ original sound – kate
In terms of the original ‘controversy’, Macklemore’s removal came as a result of him voicing his support for Palestine at two MetLife Stadium shows on the 4 and 5 September. On the first night, a TikTok clip shows Macklemore saying: “The truth is, a big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I can stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine.”
The next night, Macklemore addressed campaign group StopAntiseminism’s critique of the protest [via the BBC], addressing his “Jewish brothers and sisters” who were in the crowd. “Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, is in no way a criticism of you,” he explained.
The post Guitar Center’s competition to open for Ed Sheeran has been flooded with Free Palestine memes appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
