Ed Sheeran speaks out in Philly, says controversy 'put me in the middle' - USA Today

During his Sept. 19 tour stop in Philadelphia, singer Ed Sheeran immediately addressed the very public and unprecedented controversy that has unfolded over the last week, which left him with no openers or his original band.

At Lincoln Financial Field, Sheeran took the stage solo at the top of the show, acknowledging that he has faced criticism about his music before, but this past week was “about something much more important.”

Of the “difficult decisions” he’s had to make, Sheeran said, “I am making mistakes, and I am so, so sorry.”

Mentioning that he didn’t want to disappoint fans and has “never wanted to be an activist musician,” Sheeran addressed the controversies surrounding his tour.

“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, immediately met with a barrage of cheers, whistles and applause from the crowd.

His shows and music are meant to be about “unity, not division, about humanity, not politics,” Sheeran said, reasoning why he stays away from political commentary.

“But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore,” he said.

“What happened in Israel [and at the] Nova Music Festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain,” Sheeran said.

“What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate,” he continued.

“My heart’s been broken,” he said of the loss of life, including children.

This was the first scheduled tour stop following rapper Macklemore being dropped from the show, a move Sheeran said was decided by promoters, not himself.

The clash started after Macklemore faced heavy backlash from stadium owners for making remarks about "Free Palestine" during Sheeran's MetLife Stadium show: "The truth is, a big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I can stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine," Macklemore said.

Macklemore has faced controversy before, including in 2014 when he wore a costume onstage resembling an antisemitic caricature.

In this latest incident, the rapper said in a lengthy statement online that he was dropped from Sheeran's tour after a number of stadium owners gave Sheeran the "ultimatum" that if Macklemore was on the tour, they would not be permitted to play the venue.

Sheeran addressed this issue as well, stating that he was “deeply worried” about the idea of venues preapproving performance content.

“It should never happen in the free world,” Sheeran said, again met with applause that seemed to have provided a backing track for his entire top-of-show speech.

Openers Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe were slated to perform ahead of Sheeran, though both dropped out of the tour in solidarity with Macklemore and the pro-Palestinian movement.

Sheeran's band, Beoga, also dropped out of the tour, though the musician was able to round up backing musicians, who he said had three days to learn the music.

“They said yes with the knowledge that the world may hate them too,” Sheeran said.

“This concert is still a place where everyone is welcome, and everyone here can stand beside people that have opposing views. And everyone here can [stand by] people who they don’t agree with on everything. But they can agree on singing these songs.”

“These songs are about love, hope and unity.”

Kaitlyn McCormick is a Philadelphia-based reporter writing all things trending, breaking and city-related for USA TODAY's Philadelphia Metro Connect Team.