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Ed Sheeran cried on stage during a gig in Philadelphia as he spoke to fans in his first show since the Macklemore Palestine controversy.
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, was dropped from performing on Sheeran's tour over making pro-Palestine comments on stage.
In a statement, the rapper claimed Sheeran had told him Robert Kraft, CEO of the Kraft Group and owner of the Gillette Stadium, personally called the singer to tell him the rapper would not be allowed to perform at the venue, something which Kraft then confirmed.
Macklemore was going to open each of Sheeran's shows in the US.
Because of this, all of Sheeran's support acts pulled out, including Billie Eilish's brother Finneas, Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, Danish band Lukas Graham and Irish folk band Beoga who perform with Sheeran.
Ahead of the gig in Philadelphia on Saturday (19 September), pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrated because of what happened with Macklemore.
Sheeran performed on his own and during the gig, he gave a speech to the crowd during which he cried.
Pro-Palestinian protestors demonstrated outside of NRG Station ahead of Ed Sheeran's gig in Philadelphia / Heather Barry/Getty Images
Speaking before playing any songs, Sheeran said: "This week, the criticism was about something much more important and I've had to take and make difficult decisions and I am making mistakes, I am so, so sorry.
"I don't want to disappoint fans and 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 he wants to honour his commitment to fans and will continue the US tour, even if he performs on his own, like he did in Philadelphia.
"I am deeply worried about the idea that venues should pre-approve content of performers," he continued. "This happens in so many places that I perform around the world but this should never happen in the free world."
Sheeran then made it clear his shows are about "unity, not division, about humanity, not politics" before explaining his stance o the conflict, directly referencing what happened at the Nova festival on 7 October 2023 as "horrific" while saying what's going on in Gaza is "catastrophic, unjustifiable and disproportionate".
"I'm honestly so grateful that you're here tonight with me," he said before pausing as his emotions came to the fore.
Through a broken voice, Sheeran continued: "This concert is still a place where everyone is welcome and everyone here can stand beside people who have opposing views and everyone here can stand by people they don't agree with on everything - but they can all agree on singing these songs."
He then went on to start the gig.
Elsewhere from Indy100:
- Robert Kraft vows $2 million donation following Macklemore backlash - but people aren't convinced
- Ed Sheeran responds after Macklemore is dropped from his tour - now his other support acts quit in solidarity
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