Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Is the Ed Sheeran concert scheduled for Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field going to go on?<\/p>\n
As of Friday afternoon, it appears that it is. But later than initially announced. <\/p>\n
The start time for the concert, initially advertised at 5:30 p.m. to accommodate openers has now moved to 8 p.m., per the concert listing<\/a> on the ticket resale site Ticketmaster. <\/p>\n The enormously popular British singer-songwriter\u2019s Loop Tour has been in crisis since earlier this week when rapper Macklemore was dropped as an opener over pro-Palestinian comments<\/a> he made during two shows at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sept. 4 and 5. He performed his 2024 song \u201cHind\u2019s Hall,\u201d about pro-Palestinian protestors at Columbia University, showing footage from the war in Gaza and shouting out \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d <\/p>\n Macklemore was dropped from the tour under pressure from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft by promoters Messina Touring Group, who told Rolling Stone that several venues \u201cwill not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n Those venues include Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., which Kraft owns, and Lincoln Financial Field, where Sheeran\u2019s tour is scheduled to resume on Saturday. <\/p>\n All of Sheeran\u2019s opening acts \u2014 Finneas, Danish pop artist Lukas Graham, Irish band Beoga, and Irish singer Aaron Rowe \u2014 have since quit in solidarity with Macklemore. <\/p>\n Given the late start, it is unlikely that any opening acts will be added to the Philadelphia stop. The least expensive tickets on the resale site which were priced at $91 on Thursday were available at $66.30 on Friday afternoon. <\/p>\n \u201cKraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave [Sheeran] an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues,\u201d Macklemore\u2019s Monday social media post reads<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a statement obtained by USA Today Sports<\/a>, Kraft acknowledged his decision that Macklemore\u2019s \u201cparticipation in the Sept. 25 and 26 concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToo many lives have been lost, and there has been too much suffering,\u201d he wrote, \u201cbut only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate.\u201d<\/p>\n The Linc is owned by the city, but its day-to-day functions and events are managed by the Eagles. This week, The Wall Street Journal reported<\/a> that the respective owners of the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons decided to not host the Sheeran concert if Macklemore was not removed from the bill, and that \u201cPhiladelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie<\/a> would soon reach the same conclusion, as the owners traded phone calls and prepared to address the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n The Eagles did not respond to the Inquirer\u2019s request for comment on whether Lurie played any role in the decision to drop Macklemore. The Philadelphia mayor\u2019s office and Messina Touring Group did not respond to requests for comments either.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, Sheeran took to social media <\/a>to say that he was in touch with venue owners, promoters, and activists to \u201cfind a mutual resolution for all.\u201d<\/p>\n He respects Macklemore\u2019s \u201cstrength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes,\u201d he said, but found it hard to \u201cbuild bridges\u201d with venue owners and promoters because of the way the rapper \u201cconveyed part of his message\u201d during his shows at MetLife.<\/p>\n Not removing Macklemore, Messina representatives said in a Monday statement, would \u201cresult in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.\u201d<\/p>\n Local grassroots organizations have spoken out in protest of Macklemore\u2019s removal from the tour lineup. <\/p>\n