Ed Sheeran took the stage at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia Saturday night for his first show since Macklemore was removed from the Loop Tour on September 14. The removal followed Macklemore saying“Free Palestine”during a performance at MetLife Stadium. In the aftermath, every other opening act on the tour, Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga, dropped out in solidarity, leaving Sheeran with no openers and a start time pushed from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
During the show, an emotional Sheeran told the crowd,“I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.”He said he never set out to be an activist musician but could no longer hide how he felt about what he called a humanitarian issue, condemning the October 7 Nova festival attack while describing Gaza’s situation as catastrophic and unjustifiable. Macklemore has since called it a“painful disagreement”between friends of 13 years, and Sheeran says the promoter, not him, made the decision to remove Macklemore, whose contract was with the promoter. Macklemore also donated $1 million in tour earnings to Palestinian relief and urged Robert Kraft to match it; Kraft pledged $2 million.
The moment has sparked a bigger conversation about how much power promoters and venues hold over what artists can say onstage, and whether taking a side, or avoiding one, comes with a cost. So we want to hear from you: should a promoter ever be able to decide what an artist says during a show?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.