Fact check: Ed Sheeran has not performed solo after opening acts cancelled due to Macklemore incident

Several users and journalists have been sharing a video across social media platforms since September 16, 2026, claiming it shows Ed Sheeran performing after his opening acts pulled out of a tour following the Macklemore controversy. However, the video is old from December 2022. American rapper Macklemore announced on September 14, 2026, that he had been dropped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour after making pro-Palestinian statements on stage. On September 15, 2026, Ed released an official statement on his Instagram, defending his decision to drop Macklemore from the tour, saying that he was axed following threats from venue owners, including Robert Kraft. The backlash to his statement was severe, with all the musical artists set to perform with him dropping out from the tour in support of Macklemore. Many renowned celebrities and singers also showed support for Macklemore. Among them were American singer-songwriter Finneas, Irish singer Aaron Rowe, Irish band Beoga, and Danish pop band Lukas Graham, who announced they would be pulling out of the tour. How it started On September 16, the producer of Jay Weber Show on News Talk 1130, Gregory Jon, shared a video on X, claiming it shows Ed Sheeran performing after his opening acts cancelled the tour, with the following caption: “So the opening acts cancelled and his own band quit. Ed Sheeran says hold my beer.” The post gained 12.2 million views. A social media user shared the same clip with the following caption: “Fuck you nig****, he doesn’t need a band!” The post accumulated 2.3m views Sébastien Mélières, editorial director at news magazine Vistazo, also shared the same video with the following caption: “Ed Sheeran was left without a band and without opening acts at the last minute. Instead of cancelling, he went out alone with the guitar and absolutely smashed it in the stadium. For two hours he was once again the artist of his beginnings.” The post racked up 1.6m views. Another social media user shared the same video with a similar caption, accumulating 1.1m views. American journalist Joel M. Petlin posted the same clip with the following caption: “For all the Ed Sheeran haters out there who think he can’t perform on a stadium stage without a few anti-Israel warm up acts and a back up band, I have some really bad news for you.” It garnered 1m views. Another X account posted the same clip with a similar caption, gaining 1m views. Another social media user shared the same video with the following caption: “WOW!!! Ed Sheeran had his own band cancel on him and he came out and crushed it in front of thousands of Fans. Absolutely incredible.” It gained 1.3m views. Several other users also shared the clip across Facebook, Instagram, and X, as can be seen here, here, here, and here; collectively accumulating 1.18m views. Methodology A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the Sheeran-Macklemore controversy. A keyword search was conducted to verify whether any credible international media outlets had recently reported that Sheeran performed an entire concert alone after his band and opening acts withdrew but no such reports or visuals confirming the recent solo performance were found. A reverse image search was subsequently conducted to trace the origin of the viral video clip and yielded an earlier video shared on YouTube by a user who appears to be a Sheeran fan on December 7, 2022, with the caption: “Ed Sheeran performing Shivers at Wembley Stadium. Loop pedal close up! Note: this video was extracted from the ‘Full Circle’ documentary about the Mathematics Tour, so unfortunately it’s not a full performance. Not the perfect audio as well, but it was the best I could record.” The visuals were the same as those in the viral video. A similar video from another angle, containing the same concert visuals, was also shared by a YouTube fan page dated July 4, 2022, with the following caption: “Ed Sheeran Mathematics Tour (+–=÷x Tour) - Shivers, 1 July 2022 - Wembley Stadium, London.” The official Wembley Stadium website further confirms that Sheeran performed at Wembley Stadium for five nights in June and July 2022 as part of his + - = ÷ x Tour, also known as the Mathematics Tour. The venue listed June 24, June 25, June 29, June 30 and July 1, 2022, as Sheeran’s concert dates and stated that the shows featured his staging in the round, with the artist performing surrounded by the audience. The information listed on the official Wembley Stadium website predates the recent viral claim and dates back to Sheeran’s 2022 Mathematics Tour, rather than his ongoing Loop Tour in 2026. Furthermore, according to the Los Angeles Times report on September 16, 2026, several supporting acts had recently withdrawn from Sheeran’s Loop Tour following the removal of Macklemore from the lineup. However, the report stated that Sheeran’s next scheduled performance was still set to take place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, September 19, 2026, and that the supporting acts for the concert had not yet been finalised. Fact-check status: false The claim that a viral clip shows Ed Sheeran performing after his opening acts cancelled is false. The viral clip is of Ed Sheeran’s 2022 Mathematics Tour performance at Wembley Stadium and predates the recent claims. Sheeran has not delivered any performance, solo or in a group, since the Macklemore incident. This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.