{"id":605890,"date":"2026-09-20T04:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T04:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605890\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T04:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T04:10:11","slug":"ed-sheeran-opens-solo-concert-with-comments-on-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/605890\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran opens solo concert with comments on Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ed Sheeran opened a solo concert Saturday with comments about Gaza after controversy swirled around his tour and supporting acts withdrew in solidarity with opener Macklemore, who was dropped after making pro-Palestinian comments<\/a> onstage.<\/p>\n

Sheeran said he wants his music and shows to be about unity and humanity, not politics. But he said the attacks in Israel of October 7, 2023, were horrific and what is happening in Gaza \u201ccatastrophic and unjustifiable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to disappoint fans, and I\u2019ve 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,\u201d Sheeran said during his performance at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

The comments before a nearly full stadium came after a tumultuous week that began with rapper Macklemore, Sheeran’s original US opener, being dropped in response to exclaiming \u201cFree Palestine\u201d during a September 5 show in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

Sheeran has said he was not responsible for the decision, which came at the urging of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. His company owns a stadium where Sheeran\u2019s tour was scheduled to play on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Ed Sheeran’s band, supporting acts all quit in solidarity with Macklemore – Watch on TVNZ+<\/a><\/p>\n

Within hours of Sheeran\u2019s statement Wednesday, his supporting acts withdrew<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sheeran has performed much of his Loop Tour concerts solo, but he was joined for several songs at each stop by the Irish folk band Beoga. Macklemore was replaced by Danish band Lukas Graham and Irish singer Aaron Rowe before they backed out, and Finneas, Billie Eilish\u2019s brother and musical collaborator, was due to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year before he too dropped out this week.<\/p>\n

Sheeran says the promoters, not him, decided to drop the rapper from the tour over pro-Palestinian comments. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Before Sunday’s show, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators congregated outside the stadium. Hillary Steinberg, 34, said she got concert tickets a year ago but wound up getting a refund and attended the demonstration instead, disappointed that Sheeran did not take a stand.<\/p>\n

“I was, until this week, a big Ed Sheeran fan,” Steinberg said. “I think all art is political, and all music is political, and so this choice \u2014 even though he was saying that he wasn\u2019t complicit \u2014 is a political choice.”<\/p>\n

\"Dunedin’s<\/p>\n

Dunedin\u2019s landmark Ed Sheeran mural has the words ‘Free Palestine’ written across it. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Diane Savitz, a 53-year-old from Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, got tickets months ago and attended. She said she is a big Sheeran fan, doesn’t think he did anything wrong and a concert is not the place for politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cA concert should be for people enjoying the music. Music should bring people together,\u201d Savitz said. \u201cEveryone has their right to freedom of speech, but not every platform is the place for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Macklemore<\/p>\n

Macklemore performs on the Main Stage at the 42th Gurtenfestival edition in Bern, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 16, 2025 (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

<\/a>Macklemore said he is donating US$1 million (NZ$1.7 million)<\/a> to support Palestinian relief efforts and called on Kraft to match the gift; a spokesperson for Kraft has said the billionaire and Sheeran have each agreed to donate US$2 million (NZ$3.4 million) but have not specified where the money will be directed. Sheeran’s representatives have not responded to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Sheeran\u2019s Loop Tour was the highest-grossing in the world, with an average box office gross of over US$7 million (NZ$12 million) per city, Pollstar said in May. Through the end of 2025, Sheeran was the No. 3 top-earning concert act since 2021.<\/p>\n

Sheeran has said the tour promoter was ultimately responsible for the decision to drop Macklemore.<\/p>\n

The Grammy winner was adamant earlier this week that he wouldn’t be drawn into discussion of the war in Gaza, arguing that his fans don\u2019t come to his shows to hear about these issues.<\/p>\n

He also said he \u201cspoke with the venues at length all week to try to build a bridge\u201d before Macklemore was dropped. He insisted he would never willingly let down his fans or abandon the touring crew and others who rely on him to make a living.<\/p>\n

While promoters and venues wield great power over concert tours, experts say an artist of Sheeran’s magnitude generally has the final say about what happens concerning the shows.<\/p>\n

Sheeran told the crowd in Philadelphia that everyone is welcome at his concerts, and they can have opposing points of view while still singing his songs, which are about \u201clove, hope, and unity”.<\/p>\n

He also told fans he worries about venues preapproving performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world,\u201d Sheeran said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ed Sheeran opened a solo concert Saturday with comments about Gaza after controversy swirled around his tour and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":605891,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[156,14849,157,111,139,64,69],"class_list":["post-605890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-israel-gaza-conflict","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-north-america","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=605890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/605890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/605891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=605890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=605890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=605890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}