Ed Sheeran Addresses Recent Controversy at First Concert Since Dropping Macklemore From ‘Loop Tour’

Ed Sheeran hit the stage alone for the latest Loop Tour stop on Saturday night (September 19) at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Penn.

The 35-year-old’s concert started a little later than originally planned after all of the opening acts and his backing band dropped out of the tour after he removed Macklemore from the lineup for making pro-Palestine comments during the last tour stop at MetLife Stadium earlier this month.

After going on stage for the first show back since all of the fallout and controversy, Ed took a moment to address everything.

“Before I play some songs tonight, I hope it’s okay if I say a few words about this last week,” the musician said. “I’m used to my music being criticized, and I’m always happy to take that because I’m lucky a lot of you like myself, and to be honest, I’m not surprised that other people don’t. You know, it’s normal. But this week the criticism was about something much more important, and I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.”

“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,” Ed continued as fans cheered. “My concerts have always been a safe space for everyone, and that matters hugely to me. Honouring my commitment to my fans is also completely central to who I am, and that is why I’m here tonight on my own and continuing my current tour.”

“But I am deeply worried about the idea that venues should pre-approve content for performance. This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world,” he said. “Now, I want to address the question of where I stand in the situation in Israel and Palestine and whether my doing this concert here tonight implies where I stand. I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division. About humanity, not politics. But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore.”

“What happened in Israel at the No Music Festival on October 7th was terrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives,” Ed continued. “And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked. I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times, and listening and learning because I do not know enough.”

“I honestly am so grateful that you are here to learn with me. This concert is still in place, but everyone is welcome, and everyone here can stand beside people that have opposing views, and everyone here can stand by people that they don’t agree with on everything that they can all agree on singing these songs. And these songs are about love, hope and unity.”

Earlier this week, Ed broke his silence on Macklemore being removed from the tour and noted that it was not his decision to do so.

Macklemore also announced he was donating his entire $1 million salary from the tour to support Palestinian people.

That same day, Robert Kraft announced that he received a call from Ed asking him to “commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.”

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