Ed Sheeran publicly addressed the Gaza war and the controversy surrounding Macklemore’s removal from his Loop Tour during his Philadelphia concert Saturday night.
The singer opened his show at Lincoln Financial Field with a more-than-three-minute speech, telling the crowd, “This is not usually how I would open the show.” Sheeran said he has tried throughout his career “not to be a political commentator” because he wants his music and concerts to be about “unity, not division, about humanity, not politics.”
Ed Sheeran addresses the controversy surrounding Macklemore’s removal from his tour and says, “What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable.”
— Variety (@Variety) September 20, 2026
“Before I play some songs tonight, I hope it’s okay if I say a few words about this last week,” Sheeran said at the top of… pic.twitter.com/ZhtujolkKK
“This is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it any more,” said Sheeran. He called the Hamas-led attack at the Nova music festival in Israel on October 7, 2023, “horrific” and described civilian deaths in Gaza and the West Bank as “catastrophic and unjustified and disproportionate.”
Macklemore was removed from the tour following backlash over remarks the rapper made during a September 5 performance at MetLife Stadium. Sheeran previously said Macklemore’s removal “was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.”
Ed Sheeran performed to an empty stadium in Philadelphia after endorsing Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The concert failed to sell tickets at 50% discount, proving that boycotts do work. Free Palestine pic.twitter.com/gHQhlA4jJr
— Petite Ebony Girl (@PetiteEbonyGirl) September 20, 2026
Sheeran also said he removed the show’s smaller B-stage because of safety concerns.
“I took the B-stage out because I was afraid what might happen if I stood in the middle,” he added.
The singer has faced major backlash, with some reporting that tickets to his tour have been dropped to as low as $37 per show and videos have circulated online showing a half empty stadium.