{"id":902711,"date":"2026-09-20T09:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T09:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/902711\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T09:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T09:26:12","slug":"ed-sheeran-calls-gaza-situation-unjustifiable-after-palestine-controversy-gaza-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/902711\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran calls Gaza situation \u2018unjustifiable\u2019 after Palestine controversy | Gaza News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The British singer addresses fans at his concert in Philadelphia as his US Loop Tour resumes.<\/p>\n

Published On 20 Sep 202620 Sep 2026<\/p>\n

British pop star Ed Sheeran has made his first comments on the controversy that plunged his North America Loop Tour into turmoil, saying that the situation in Gaza is \u201ccatastrophic\u201d, \u201cunjustifiable\u201d and \u201cdisproportionate\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sheeran made the remarks as he opened his show at the Lincoln Financial Field stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his tour resumed on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n

The pop singer has faced a wave of criticism after his opening act, American rapper Macklemore, was dropped from the lineup over his pro-Palestine comments at a concert in New Jersey earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Macklemore\u2019s comments drew backlash from owners of stadiums hosting Sheeran\u2019s future tour dates. Sheeran has denied being behind the decision, blaming the tour promoter.<\/p>\n

\"RecordingRecording artist Macklemore, left, and Ed Sheeran [File: AP]<\/p>\n

According to US media reports, the start time for the concert was pushed back two and a half hours because there were no opening acts and Sheeran performed solo.<\/p>\n

All of Sheeran\u2019s four supporting acts<\/a>, including American singer Billie Eilish\u2019s brother and musical collaborator, Finneas, walked out on Sheeran, issuing public statements citing their support for Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Finneas and his sister have been outspoken about their support for Palestine before.<\/p>\n

\u201cArtists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,\u201d he said on Instagram last Tuesday, adding: \u201cI stand with Palestine and its people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pro-PalestinianPro-Palestinian protesters gather near Lincoln Financial Field, the venue of pop star Ed Sheeran\u2019s concert, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 19, 2026 [Eduardo Munoz\/Reuters]<\/p>\n

A group of about 50 pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied outside the stadium before the show on Saturday, waving Palestinian flags and chanting \u201cFree, free Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hillary Steinberg, 34, of Philadelphia, said she got tickets a year ago but got a refund and attended the demonstration instead, disappointed that Sheeran did not take a stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was, until this week, a big Ed Sheeran fan,\u201d Steinberg told the Associated Press news agency. \u201cI think all art is political, and all music is political, and so this choice, even though he was saying that he wasn\u2019t complicit, is a political choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The controversy did not matter to concertgoers who spoke to the Reuters news agency on Saturday before Sheeran took to the stage.<\/p>\n

Joy VanRuler, 55, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, said she supports both Sheeran and Macklemore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t need to be political,\u201d VanRuler said. \u201cIt\u2019s about the music, and we support both of them and it\u2019s all good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The British singer addresses fans at his concert in Philadelphia as his US Loop Tour resumes. Published On…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75,8766,23285,21751,1259,341,44,714,6679,772],"class_list":["post-902711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-gaza","tag-ireland","tag-israel-palestine-conflict","tag-middle-east","tag-music","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-protests","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}