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Ed Sheeran ended the longest week of his career on Saturday by sharing his thoughts on Israel’s continued assault on Gaza and further addressing the severe backlash to Macklemore being removed from the singer’s ongoing tour. Ahead of his headlining performance in Philadelphia, Sheeran walked on stage to explain to fans that he “never wanted to be an activist musician” but that the expulsion of Macklemore—along with the subsequent resignations of Sheeran’s additional support acts and entire backing band—had put him “in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet.”
“I am deeply worried about the idea that venues should pre-approve content of performers,” said Sheeran, without mentioning Macklemore’s name or accepting responsibility that he had anything to do with the rapper being kicked off the tour in the first place. “This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.”
On September 14, Macklemore accused longtime friend Sheeran of crumbling under pressure from New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft for allegedly threatening Sheeran with cancelling the show if he did not drop Macklemore as an opener. Sheeran later blamed the promoter, Messina Touring Group, for his tourmate’s removal. Kraft admitted to involvement in the decision to remove Macklemore but did not respond to the rapper’s claim that he had colluded with other venue owners to do the same.
Macklemore’s shows, including the two he played opening for Sheeran, have long included footage of Israel’s continued bombing of Gaza and a performance of “Hind’s Hall,” his song for Hind Rajab, a five-year-old killed by the Israeli military. Following his removal, Macklemore pledged to donate $1 million of his net earnings from the tour to six organizations supporting Palestinian aid and challenged Kraft to match the donation. Kraft, at Sheeran’s urging, instead donated $2 million for “aid in the region”—though the Patriots’ owner has yet to specify whether that money is going to the same charities Macklemore’s is.
Sheeran also used his pre-show speech to further share his thoughts about October 7 along with Israel’s ongoing assault on Palestinians. “What happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain,” he said. “What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic, unjustifiable, and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives. And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.” You can read Sheeran’s full opening remarks below.
Later in the set, Sheeran brought out replacements for his first backing band, Beoga, who resigned in solidarity with Maceklmore alongside Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe. “They said yes to being on stage with the knowledge that the world thought I was a certain type of person,” said Sheeran about his new group. “They said yes with the knowledge that the world may hate them too for standing on stage with me.”
Before the finale, Sheeran further spoke about the pressure he had been feeling to cancel the tour. “Tonight has been honestly the best show of my life,” he said. “I really didn’t know whether this tour would carry on, I really didn’t know whether I’d get on stage again, whether I even wanted to be an artist at all. But, you know, in these situations, you really find out who your friends are.” He added, “Everyone’s telling me to cancel and I’m feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me and I look at the end of the week and I see 50,000 people who haven’t abandoned me.”
