Ed Sheeran makes major show change as he admits he was ‘afraid’ of being pelted by ‘things’ after Macklemore controversy
ED Sheeran has made a major show change as he admitted he was “afraid” of being pelted by projectiles after the Macklemore controversy.
The singer yesterday broke his silence on the huge Palestine row, which saw Macklemore be pulled from his gigs over comments about the conflict – and his own band quit in protest.
As masked protesters waving Palestinian flags gathered outside the Lincoln Financial Field venue in Philadelphia, Ed took to the stage.
Near the end of the gig, Ed confessed he was forced to pivot from his original show plan over fears he didn’t know what the “audience would be like.”
Speaking at his stadium show, Ed said: “The show itself, at this point in the show, to be honest like I usually go out to B stage and I’m gonna be totally honest with you I didn’t know what the audience would be like tonight.
“I didn’t know if I was going to have things thrown at me. I didn’t know if people would be angry at me.”
The audience cheered as Ed continued: “I apologise that today is not the usual Loop show where I stand on the B stage but I was afraid of standing in the middle.
“I will admit that.”
Elsewhere in the show, Ed broke down in tears as he bowed to pressure threatening the future of his US tour, Loop, and apologised.
He said he had tried not to be a “political commentator” because he wanted his music to be about “unity”.
But then admitted on stage: “I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore.”
“What happened in Israel and at the Nova music festival on October 7 was horrific 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, children’s lives.
“And the systemic injustice we are seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”
The controversy started when US rapper Macklemore was banned by Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft from performing at the venue at a gig planned for later this month.
Kraft said he would not “provide a platform for hate speech” after the rapper spoke out about Palestine onstage.
But when Macklemore was pulled from the tour, several other support acts quit in solidarity – including Ed’s own band.
Other acts who dropped out included Grammy award-winning musician Finneas, Irish singer Aaron Rowe and Danish singer Lukas Graham.
Thousands then cancelled tickets and the musician was unsure if he’d be able to carry on with performances at all.
Emotional Ed said he had questioned whether he “wanted to be an artist at all” after the toxic fallout.
The devastated star thanked his fans for still coming out to his gig, saying: “This concert is still a place where everyone is welcome and everyone here can stand beside people that have opposing views, and everyone can stand beside people that they don’t agree with on everything, but they can all agree on singing these songs.”