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Associated Press

Ed Sheeran opened a concert on Saturday with comments about Gaza after controversy swirled around his tour and supporting acts withdrew in solidarity with opener Macklemore, who was dropped after making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.
Sheeran began the concert alone on stage with no opener, but was joined by other musicians later in the show.
Sheeran said he wanted his music and shows to be about unity and humanity, not politics.
But he said the attacks in Israel of October 7, 2023, were horrific and what was happening in Gaza “catastrophic and unjustifiable”.
“I don’t want to disappoint fans, and I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” Sheeran said during his performance at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
“My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives.”
Sheeran then addressed the controversy that unfolded since his supporting acts withdrew in solidarity with Macklemore.
Sheeran has performed much of his Loop Tour concerts solo, but he had been joined for several songs at each stop by the Irish folk band Beoga. Macklemore, Sheeran’s original US opener, had been replaced by the Danish band Lukas Graham and the Irish singer Aaron Rowe before they backed out.
Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year before he too dropped out earlier this week.

Before Saturday’s show, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators congregated outside the stadium. Hillary Steinberg, 34, of Philadelphia, said she got tickets a year ago but wound up getting a refund and attending the demonstration instead, disappointed that Sheeran did not take a stand.
“I was, until this week, a big Ed Sheeran fan,” Steinberg said. “I think all art is political, and all music is political, and so this choice – even though he was saying that he wasn’t complicit – is a political choice.”
The show comes after a tumultuous week that opened with Macklemore being dropped in response to exclaiming “Free Palestine” during a September 5 show in New Jersey.
Sheeran has said he was not responsible for the decision, which came at the urging of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. His company owns a stadium where Sheeran’s tour was scheduled to play on Friday.
Within hours of Sheeran’s statement on Tuesday, his supporting acts withdrew.
Diane Savitz, a 53-year-old concertgoer from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, got her tickets to the show months ago and is a big Sheeran fan. She said she does not think that he did anything wrong or that a concert is the place for politics.
“A concert should be for people enjoying the music. Music should bring people together,” Savitz said. “Everyone has their right to freedom of speech, but not every platform is the place for it.”

Macklemore said on Wednesday he was donating US$1 million to support Palestinian relief efforts and called on Kraft to match the gift; a spokesperson for Kraft has said the billionaire and Sheeran have each agreed to donate US$2 million but have not specified where the money will be directed. Sheeran’s representatives have not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Sheeran’s Loop Tour was the highest-grossing in the world, with an average box office gross of over US$7 million per city, Pollstar said in May. Through the end of 2025, Sheeran was the No 3 top-earning concert act since 2021.
Sheeran has said the tour promoter was ultimately responsible for the decision to drop Macklemore.
The Grammy winner was adamant in his Tuesday statement that he would not be drawn into discussion of the war in Gaza, arguing that his fans do not come to his shows to hear about these issues.
He also said he “spoke with the venues at length all week to try to build a bridge” before Macklemore was dropped. He insisted he would never willingly let down his fans or abandon the touring crew and others who rely on him to make a living.
While promoters and venues wield great power over concert tours, experts say an artist of Sheeran’s magnitude generally has the final say about what happens concerning the shows.
Sheeran told the crowd in Philadelphia that everyone was welcome at his concerts and they can have opposing points of view while still singing his songs, which are about “love, hope and unity”.
He also told fans that he was worried about venues pre-approving performances.
“This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world,” Sheeran said.


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Ed Sheeran performs during the 2025 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival in California. Photo: Getty Images for Coachella


Demonstrators gather outside an Ed Sheeran concert venue in Philadelphia on Saturday. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

US rapper Macklemore performs at a music festival in Switzerland last year. Photo: Keystone via AP

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators wave flags before an Ed Sheeran concert in Philadelphia on Saturday. Photo: AP

People attend the concert of pop star Ed Sheeran at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Ed Sheeran tour in trouble as support acts quit over pro-Palestinian speech fallout

Ed Sheeran performing in Boston in 2025. Photo: TNS

Macklemore performing in Australia in 2024. Photo: TNS

Aaron Rowe at the Glastonbury Festival in 2025. Photo: AP

Finneas said ‘artists must not be silenced’. Photo: AP

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Kneecap’s Liam O’Hanna, aka Mo Chara, centre, and Naoise O Caireallain, aka Moglai Bap, right, perform at the Rock en Seine music festival in Saint-Cloud, near Paris on Sunday. Photo: AFP

People cheer during Kneecap’s performance at the Rock en Seine music festival in Saint-Cloud, near Paris on Sunday. Photo: AFP

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The pop star decried the ‘devastation and loss of children’s lives’ in the Palestinian enclave during a concert in Philadelphia


The pop star decried the ‘devastation and loss of children’s lives’ in the Palestinian enclave during a concert in Philadelphia.


Ed Sheeran calls Gaza situation ‘unjustifiable’ after Macklemore exit furore

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The pop star decried the ‘devastation and loss of children’s lives’ in the Palestinian enclave during a concert in Philadelphia

The pop star decried the ‘devastation and loss of children’s lives’ in the Palestinian enclave during a concert in Philadelphia