Ed Sheeran opened his concert in Philadelphia on Saturday apologizing to fans for “making mistakes” after his tour was thrust into controversy earlier this week and saying the situation in Gaza is “catastrophic and unjustifiable.”
The English superstar’s comments come after opening act Macklemore was dropped from the tour over pro-Palestinian comments he made from the stage at an earlier show in New Jersey. In the wake of that decision, the rest of the opening acts for Sheeran’s tour announced they would also be withdrawing from the tour.
In his remarks to the audience at Lincoln Financial Field, Sheeran said he has had to make difficult decisions in the past week adding, “and I am making mistakes and I’m so, so sorry.”
Sheeran said he has traditionally stayed out of politics.
“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,” he said.
Addressing the Israel-Hamas war, Sheeran began by referencing the massacre at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023.
“What happened in Israel at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain,” Sheeran said. “What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and the loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives.”
The controversy began unfolding earlier this week when Macklemore announced on Monday he had been dropped from Sheeran’s tour after making pro-Palestinian comments on stage at MetLife Stadium earlier this month, which the rapper also posted to social media.
In a video from the New Jersey show posted to his Instagram account, Macklemore says, “One of the reasons why I wanted to come on this tour, was because I wanted to stand up here on stages and stadiums across America, and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart. Free Palestine. I said Free Palestine.”
Macklemore also said, “To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, in no way is a criticism of you,” in the lead-up to his song “Hind’s Hall.” The music video features clips from Gaza and U.S. student protests.
In a social media post earlier this week responding to Macklemore’s post, Sheeran said the decision to drop Macklemore from the tour was his promoter’s decision.
“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine,” Sheeran said. “Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.”
Sheeran also said he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and said after his New Jersey shows that upcoming venues “communicated that they would pull the shows” if Macklemore remained as the supporting act.
In a statement to ABC News earlier this week, Messina Touring Group, the tour’s U.S. promoter, said, “As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans. After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”
ABC News’ Mason Leib and Brianna Sanchez contributed to this report.
