Ed Sheeran Says He’s «So, So Sorry» as Tour Continues Without Macklemore After His «Free Palestine» Remark

Ed Sheeran directly addressed the controversy engulfing his Loop Tour on September 19, during his first concert since Macklemore was removed from the lineup following pro-Palestinian remarks onstage. Appearing before a nearly full Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia without an opening act, Sheeran began the show with an emotional statement acknowledging the turmoil that had unfolded during the previous week. The fallout had left his tour without its remaining supporting artists after Finneas, Aaron Rowe and Lukas Graham withdrew, while Irish group Beoga, which had been joining Sheeran during his performances, also departed in solidarity with Macklemore. Standing alone on the darkened stage, Sheeran acknowledged his own handling of the situation and apologized directly to his audience. «I've had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I am so, so sorry,» he said. It was one of his clearest public acknowledgments yet of how deeply the controversy had disrupted the tour.

Sheeran then addressed the wider conflict that had become inseparable from the controversy surrounding Macklemore's removal. The British singer explained that he had deliberately avoided becoming a political commentator throughout his career because he wanted his concerts to emphasize unity and humanity rather than political division. But in Philadelphia, he said the humanitarian situation had reached a point where he could no longer avoid discussing it publicly. «This is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore,» Sheeran told the crowd. He described the Hamas-led attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, as «horrific» and said they had compounded centuries of Jewish suffering. He then turned to Gaza, declaring, «What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.» Sheeran said his heart had been broken by the enormous destruction and loss of civilian and children's lives, while also saying that the «systemic injustice» unfolding in the West Bank could not be ignored.

The extraordinary moment in Philadelphia followed two turbulent weeks that began when Macklemore used his opening slot during Sheeran's September 5 concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to make an explicitly pro-Palestinian statement. Addressing the stadium, the rapper explained why joining such a massive tour mattered to him: «A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so that I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very, very dear to my heart: Free Palestine.» Macklemore also spoke about Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank before performing his protest song Hind's Hall. The comments generated immediate criticism and pressure surrounding subsequent tour dates, and Macklemore was ultimately removed from the lineup. Sheeran later maintained that the decision was not his, attributing it to the tour's promoter amid objections from venue operators. The decision instead expanded the controversy: the remaining supporting artists withdrew in solidarity, leaving Sheeran to resume the tour in Philadelphia without them and confronting a debate over artistic expression that he had previously tried to avoid.

Sheeran also made clear in Philadelphia that one aspect of the controversy continued to trouble him: the power of stadium operators to influence what artists are permitted to say from the stage. «I am deeply worried about the idea that venues pre-approve content for performance,» he told the audience, adding, «This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.» But for many of Sheeran's critics, that acknowledgment and his apology came too late. They portrayed his handling of the controversy as a failure of moral courage and a surrender to corporate pressure, arguing that an artist with Sheeran's influence could have done more to resist Macklemore's removal. Macklemore himself challenged the idea of remaining publicly neutral, writing that «there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed». Similar criticism spread across social media, where some fans accused Sheeran of prioritizing the tour's commercial interests over principle, with one widely shared reaction declaring, «You chose money, that is all, your apology is meaningless.» Sheeran, however, has said Macklemore's removal was not his decision and that he spent days attempting to mediate the dispute before returning to the stage in Philadelphia.

Macklemore, meanwhile, has shown no regret about using Sheeran's stadium tour to deliver his message. Following his removal, the rapper acknowledged having difficult conversations with Sheeran but maintained that speaking publicly about Palestinians was more important than protecting his place on the tour. He later pledged the entirety of his $1 million in net earnings from the tour to organizations providing assistance to Palestinians and challenged Robert Kraft to contribute humanitarian aid as well. Macklemore also tried to redirect attention away from the celebrities involved and toward Palestinians affected by the war. His position was particularly clear when discussing the consequences of his MetLife remarks. «If those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I've ever been on,» he wrote. Macklemore has also rejected the idea that criticism of the Israeli government is inherently criticism of Jewish people, saying his message is ultimately about peace, dignity and equality.

Macklemore's decision to say «Free Palestine» from Sheeran's stage was also consistent with an issue he had already placed prominently in his music. In May 2024, he released Hind's Hall, a protest song supporting Palestinians and the pro-Palestinian student demonstrations then spreading across American universities. Its title refers to Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, which protesters occupied and symbolically renamed in memory of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza earlier that year. Macklemore announced that streaming proceeds from the song would benefit UNRWA. Four months later, he expanded the project with Hind's Hall 2, featuring Palestinian-American comedian Amer Zahr, Palestinian-American singer Anees and Gaza-born rapper MC Abdul, with proceeds again directed toward UNRWA USA. The two songs addressed Gaza, American support for Israel, Palestinian displacement and the student protest movement, making his appearance on Sheeran's tour another chapter in a public campaign that had begun long before the controversy at MetLife Stadium.

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