sheeran

ED Sheeran has broken down in tears onstage as he bowed to pressure and apologised over a Palestine row.

The singer broke his silence onstage last night after Macklemore was pulled from his tour and his own band quit in protest.

Protesters mounted a demo outside his Philadelphia gig at the Lincoln Financial Field.

Sheeran said he had questioned whether he “wanted to be an artist at all” after the huge row.

The singer-songwriter said onstage last night: “I’ve had to take, and make, difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes and I’m so, so sorry for them.

“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 TELL ALL

Ed Sheeran plots TV chat to have his say after backlash from axing Macklemore

JEREMY CLARKSON

Poor Ed Sheeran got cancelled for saying nothing. Is Cliff Richard next?

He said he had tried not to be a “political commentator” because he wanted his music to be about “unity”.

But after days of increased pressure threatening the future of his US tour Loop, the singer admitted onstage: “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 Sheeran’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 Sheeran last night thanked 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.”

He ended the gig by saying: “The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now. This gives hope.”

After losing his warm-up acts, Sheeran’s concert start time was pushed back from 5.30pm local time to 8pm.

The tour began in Auckland, New Zealand, in January and is set to finish in Mexico City in December after 16 more dates across America.

PHILADELPHIA — Ed Sheeran opened a solo concert in Philadelphia on Saturday with comments about Gaza, saying what’s happening is “catastrophic and unjustifiable.”

“My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives,” Sheeran said at his nighttime performance at Lincoln Financial Field.

Sheeran also said he wants his music and shows to be about unity and humanity, not politics.

He then addressed the controversy that unfolded since his supporting acts withdrew in solidarity with opener Macklemore, who was dropped from the tour after making pro-Palestinian comments onstage.

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 U.S. opener, had been replaced by Danish band Lukas Graham and 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.

As of Saturday afternoon, tickets were still available for the show, and Sheeran’s website did not list any replacement acts.

Earlier a group of about 50 pro-Palestinian demonstrators congregated outside the stadium before the show. 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 had not taken 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 Sept. 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 Friday.

Within hours of Sheeran’s statement Tuesday, his supporting acts withdrew.

Diane Savitz, a 53-year-old concertgoer from Stroudsburg, Pa., 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 Wednesday he is donating $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 $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 $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 wouldn’t be drawn into discussion of the war in Gaza, arguing that his fans don’t 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 is welcome at his concerts, and they can have opposing points of view while still singing his songs, which are about “love, hope, and unity.”

Vejpongsa writes for the Associated Press. AP journalist Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

SUPERSTAR Ed Sheeran quietly donated £1.5million to aid in the Middle East ongoing conflict amid the fallout from Macklemore being removed from his Loop tour.

The four-time Grammy Award winner asked US stadium owner Robert Kraft to match his donation to bring aid to the region.

Rather than publicize the generous move himself, Ed’s donation has come to light after Macklemore publicly challenged Robert to match his own £750,000 ($1 million) donation to Palestinian organizations.

Taking to Instagram, Robert wrote: “Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.

“Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.”

Ed’s huge donation comes after 15 years of supporting countless charities around the globe.

FLED SHEERAN

Ed Sheeran tour chaos as ALL support acts drop out over Macklemore controversy

back in da house

Ali G movie mocks Ed Sheeran & reveals ‘new’ Julie replacing Kellie Bright

He teamed up with Médecins Sans Frontières across both his Mathematics and Divide tours to help raise money for some of the world’s most conflict-torn states.

The charity provides humanitarian medical care—focusing on projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases.

The fallout comes after Robert Kraft took the unprecedented move to ban Ed’s support act Macklemore from performing at his Gillette Stadium near Boston.

The rapper had used previous support slots to call for a “Free Palestine” on stage and flashed up images of Gaza.

As well as referring to the war as “genocide,” Macklemore also dedicated a song to pro-Palestinian protesters.

Macklemore took to social media to slam the move, prompting a global backlash.

In his statement on Tuesday, Ed, who has tried to keep out of politics all his career, said: “I am appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

“The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars across the world causing immeasurable pain, none of which should be tolerated.”

He added: “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living.”

In a matter of days, Ed Sheeran has gone from the most agreeable, defiantly middle-of-the-road singer-songwriter on the pop charts to music’s newest villain. The Times’ August Brown and Mikael Wood gathered to break down what happened — and to figure out what it all means.

August Brown: To recap, Sheeran dropped his tour opener, the rapper Macklemore, after the MC described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide and said “Free Palestine” onstage this month at two New Jersey dates of Sheeran’s ongoing stadium tour. Macklemore, in a statement, cited his long friendship with Sheeran while criticizing the singer for allegedly acquiescing to a demand from Robert Kraft, the owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots, that the rapper not be allowed to perform at the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium outside Boston due to his comments.

Kraft, a Trump-supporting billionaire with his own colorful history, released a statement about the tour, saying he was “ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech.”

But Sheeran, who performed at Kraft’s wedding in 2022, arguably made things much worse with his own comments on the decision to drop Macklemore from the tour, which ranged from shifting accountability (“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine”) to promising that he held compassionate beliefs on this volatile issue but wouldn’t articulate them publicly (“I am not complicit. 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.”)

This prompted Sheeran’s remaining openers — including the musician and producer Finneas, the Danish rock combo Lukas Graham and singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe — to drop off the tour, each giving their plainspoken support for both Macklemore’s advocacy and the Palestinian people as their reasons for leaving. The traditional Irish group Beoga, which backs Sheeran for a portion of his nightly show, also quit the tour, saying it was responding to “the silencing of Macklemore by Zionist lobbies.”

It’s too soon to know how this will affect a CVS-core pop star like Sheeran, but it’s clear that for the first time in his career, he’s chosen the path of maximum conflict and controversy for little gain. What do you think he should he have done instead?

Macklemore

(Morgan Hancock / Getty Images)

Mikael Wood: Not let Macklemore be booted from his tour?

Look, I understand Sheeran’s position here: that he views himself as an artist whose audience comes to his show precisely because they’d like to avoid the messy realities of the world for two or three hours. We can choose a different day to discuss how tenable (or not) that position is here in the era of a reality-TV president who long ago blurred the line between politics and entertainment.

But setting aside one’s views on Israel and Palestine, it’s impossible for me to see how Sheeran ever thought his actions would be seen as anything other than allowing a fellow artist to be silenced — a clear loser in the eyes of both the left and the right.

It would be one thing if Macklemore’s comments in New Jersey truly resembled the hate speech that Kraft accused him of dispensing. (Many online have posted images of a costume the rapper wore onstage in 2014 that resembled an ugly Jewish caricature; Macklemore apologized at the time, saying he understood the criticism.)

And of course I get that the very idea of hate speech is slippery — one reason, perhaps, that the folks at AT&T Stadium near Dallas (where Sheeran is scheduled to perform next month) appear to have no problem hosting a concert in November by Ye, who not so long ago released a song called, uh, “Heil Hitler.”

But given how measured Macklemore’s comments were, Sheeran’s decision to go along with the demands for his removal feels less like a fulfillment of his desire to create a conflict-free zone and more like a capitulation to a rich and powerful friend.

August, what do you make of the various statements from the musicians who’ve opted to leave the tour in the wake of all this?

August Brown: The other openers had the most to lose here by bowing out of a huge tour. Yet they took unambiguous stances in favor of Macklemore’s Palestinian advocacy. (On Wednesday, the rapper said on Instagram that he planned to donate “the entire $1 million of my net earnings” from Sheeran’s tour to six organizations “working directly to support the Palestinian people.” He also invited Kraft to match his donation.)

“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote. “I stand with Palestine and its people.”

Lukas Graham went even harder: “We should be able to speak about war, about civilians being killed, about children who deserve to grow up,” the group wrote. “Money doesn’t give you the right to own the conversation.”

Sheeran could have done what many fans regard as the right thing: Defy Kraft’s demands, cancel the Gillette Stadium dates with Macklemore and reroute the tour to somewhere that would support an opening act’s fairly anodyne support of a popular human rights cause. Sheeran is extremely wealthy, and he’d have been on the right side of history, if for no other reason than to say that billionaires shouldn’t have a veto over an artist’s human rights advocacy onstage.

I’m sympathetic to the idea that crews’ livelihoods and fans’ investment in the shows are meaningful things to toss out. But an artist as big as Sheeran can make up the difference. Even a hypothetical statement like “I stand for Macklemore’s freedom of speech and the rights of the Palestinian people. My team’s livelihoods depends on the shows happening, so I will play the Gillette dates as planned,” with a promise for a donation or a benefit show with Macklemore down the line — even that would have smoothed this over.

But his actions here — deflecting accountability, being vague yet defensive about his own politics — and his history with Kraft suggest his sympathies might not lie with the causes his opening acts stand for.

It’s interesting that Beoga and Aaron Rowe, both Irish acts, acknowledged their own country’s history of colonial occupation as reason to stand up for Palestinians (and free speech around it). “Ed has been a friend to me and has changed my life, I could never thank him enough for this,” Rowe wrote in his statement. “But as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine, and violent occupation.”

Even Lukas Graham cited the band’s roots in Christiania, a Danish enclave with a history as an anarchist commune, as an example they’re following by bailing on this tour. Sheeran likes to say that, through his father, he is culturally Irish though he was born and raised in England. In a country that rallied for Kneecap, the Irish rap group and advocates for Palestinians, his reputation is likely taking a real hit. Whether that extends to his ultra-mainstream U.S. fan base remains to be seen.

Not every artist is obliged to comment on contentious issues — though the success of Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields festival, which raised money for an array of abortion-rights advocacy groups, showed that A-listers can speak out when they want to. But whatever he actually believes, Sheeran’s long-cultivated neutrality is in tatters. Taking a stand would have been the path of least resistance. Instead, he committed the most basic onstage error: a failure to read the room.

Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour, in the span of less than two weeks, became an unexpected lightning rod for controversy and conversation about artist activism amid Israel’s deadly war in Gaza. Still, the show will go on.

Sheeran’s tour will proceed as planned, The Times has learned. He is scheduled to play on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The venue also confirmed on Wednesday that the Saturday concert is still a go, but that supporting acts have yet to be finalized.

A representative for Sheeran’s tour did not immediately respond to requests for additional information, including who will be the new supporting acts.

In a rapid turn of events since rapper and former opening act Macklemore called for Palestinian liberation onstage earlier this month, Sheeran — the singer of inoffensive hits including “Thinking Out Loud” and “Shape of You” — fell out with the fellow Grammy winner, witnessed all supporting acts drop from his lineup and defended himself against accusations of complicity in silencing criticism of Israel. Additionally, Sheeran confronted scrutiny over his largely apolitical public presence. He attributed this to his longtime desire to “bring people from all backgrounds and cultures together” via his music and performances.

“I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict,” he wrote Tuesday on Instagram. “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. Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own, personal way.”

Ahead of Sheeran’s first concert since the scrutiny surrounding Macklemore’s performance, read on for what preceded the fallout of Sheeran’s Loop tour.

Macklemore goes from “Thrift Shop” to “Hind’s Hall”

Macklemore performs at Rod Laver Arena on May 15, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia.

(Morgan Hancock / Getty Images)

Before hitting the stage for Sheeran’s Loop tour, Macklemore famously burst onto the music scene in 2012 as part of the duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. The pair gained popularity for the then-inescapable hit “Thrift Shop,” the fourth single off their acclaimed debut album, “The Heist.”

The duo gained further notoriety with hits “Can’t Hold Us” and same-sex marriage anthem “Same Love.” They notoriously bested Kendrick Lamar at the 2014 Grammy Awards in the rap album category. Lamar was nominated for his striking debut “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.”

A year after releasing their 2016 album, “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made,” the duo announced an indefinite hiatus. Macklemore focused on his solo work, including collaborations with Kesha, Lil Yachty and Skylar Grey. In recent years, Macklemore has taken on a new purpose with his platform.

Macklemore, like many musical acts including Kehlani, Finneas and Irish rap group Kneecap, became a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause after Israel began its offensive in Gaza in the wake of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. The rapper has channeled his views on the conflict into his music, releasing his protest song “Hind’s Hall” in May 2024. The song calls for a ceasefire, an end to Israeli occupation in Gaza and highlights pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses.

Ed Sheeran announces his Loop tour

Ed Sheeran performs during iHeartRadio Kiss 108’s Jingle Ball 2025 at TD Garden on Dec. 14, 2025, in Boston, Mass..

(Scott Eisen / Getty Images for iHeartRadio)

Last September, Sheeran unveiled his plans to hit the road to promote his eighth studio album, “Play.”

The British “A Team” singer announced at the time that his tour would begin June 2026 with a stop at Arizona’s State Farm Stadium and would run through early November. The announcement did not disclose the supporting acts set to share the stage with him, but informed fans the singer would perform shows across large venues including Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium in August and a pair of performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The concerts at MetLife Stadium would later embroil Sheeran, his tour, Macklemore — and somehow pop star Pink — in controversy.

Macklemore calls to ‘Free Palestine’: Performance or ‘propaganda?’

When Macklemore took the MetLife Stadium stage as the supporting act for Sheeran’s Sept. 4 and 5 concerts, he did not mince words in his message. During his set, Macklemore criticized Israel for its war in Gaza and accused it of genocide of Palestinians. He also projected an edited version of his “Hind’s Hall” music video, which features footage of pro-Palestinian college encampments and protests and military strikes in Gaza.

Video of Macklemore’s performance spread online, drawing ire from some Jewish advocacy groups including StopAntisemitism, which accused Macklemore on Instagram of turning “a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state.” Pop star Pink, who is Jewish, shared StopAntisemitism’s post to her Instagram story. She faced backlash for the repost and later clarified in a three-part statement that she took issue with the imagery Macklemore displayed during his performance. She also accused the rapper of taking “the mic to tell all the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them.”

In the wake of Macklemore’s performance, the Israeli American Council and the Anti-Defamation League also decried Macklemore’s performance on social media, with the former publishing a petition calling on Sheeran to remove the rapper from the remaining shows of his tour.

“Freedom of expression does not give anyone the right to turn someone else’s stage into a platform for political propaganda,” the Israeli American Council said on Instagram.

Amid the mounting backlash, Macklemore defended his stance and shared video on social media of his full address to the MetLife crowd. “I said ‘Free Palestine.’ I want those words to be loud and clear so that the people in Gaza all the way to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten them,” he tells concertgoers in his introduction to “Hind’s Hall.”

“To all my Jewish brothers and sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you,” he adds, according to video of his address. “My message is for peace, love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect and equality.”

The fallout begins: Macklemore fired from Loop tour

Whether Macklemore would remain on Sheeran’s tour amid the public outcry remained uncertain, until he confirmed his status earlier this week. He said in a lengthy statement shared to Facebook that his continued, vocal support for Palestinians amid Israel’s war in Gaza has cost him professionally.

The rapper said he was removed after “some difficult conversations” with Sheeran. He also went into depth about the inner workings that led to his removal from the tour, including conversations between Sheeran and wealthy venue owners, including billionaire Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, where Sheeran is set to play later this month.

“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” Macklemore wrote. “Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”

Sheeran in a separate statement shared on Tuesday confirmed he had conversations with Kraft but did not speak to the alleged ultimatum. The singer also said removing Macklemore from the tour “was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine” and that Macklemore’s contract was with its promoter. Messina Touring announced on Monday it had dropped Macklemore from the remaining tour dates “after discussions with stakeholders.”

Additionally, Macklemore wrote that Sheeran’s “typical apolitical stance was being challenged” amid the public scrutiny and “he couldn’t get past his public facing, ‘I don’t take sides.’”

Sheeran appeared to address that criticism, writing in his missive that attendees at his concerts “do not expect a political forum.” The singer also wrote he thinks there can be different ways to work toward peace.

“If we only focus on shouting the loudest, nothing will ever change,” he wrote.

Macklemore said in his Monday statement he was hopeful this turn of events would not mean an end to his friendship with Sheeran and he was grateful for the opportunity to play on tour, regardless.

“I didn’t need 10 Shows from Ed. I needed 2,” he wrote. “Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say … ‘Free Palestine.’”

Supporting acts depart tour in solidarity

Grammy winner Finneas was among the supporting acts who announced their departure from Ed Sheeran’s tour on Tuesday.

(Monica Schipper / Getty Images)

Hours after Sheeran shared his side to the controversy, numerous musical acts including Grammy winner Finneas and folk band Beoga, Sheeran’s backing band, pulled from the Loop tour in solidarity with Macklemore and in support of Palestinians.

“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed. I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran,” wrote Finneas, who has been a vocal supporter of Palestinians. “I stand with Palestine and its people.”

Pop band Lukas Graham and Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, both billed as supporting acts for several upcoming dates on Sheeran’s tour, voiced support for the Palestinian people and spoke against the inner workings that led to Macklemore’s removal.

In its statement, Lukas Graham wrote: “Money doesn’t give you the right to own the conversation. Nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we’re allowed to acknowledge.”

Rowe in his Instagram statement said that Sheeran “has been a friend to me and has changed my life” but that he is sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. “As Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation,” he wrote. The “Hey Ma” singer accused elites of leveraging their power to “silence the rightful voices” and criticism of Israel.

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

Macklemore announced Wednesday that he will donate his earnings from his shows with Sheeran to charities supporting Palestinians. He also invited Kraft to match his donation and reaffirmed his dedication to the Palestinian cause.

“This is what this has always been about,” he wrote. “Not me. Not a tour. Not the headlines or the controversy.”

The North American leg of Sheeran’s Loop tour is scheduled to end Nov. 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. — the same venue that platformed controversial rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West) earlier this summer.