Ed Sheeran has admitted to making “mistakes” over Macklemore being dropped from his ‘Loop’ tour due to his pro-Palestine comments, and revealed that the subsequent controversy left him questioning whether he wanted “to be an artist at all”.
The singer addressed the row extensively during his live return at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field last night (September 19), taking to the stage after all of his support acts and backing band had withdrawn from the tour.
At the beginning of the show, Sheeran acknowledged the criticism he had received over the past week.
“I’m used to my music being criticised, and I’m always happy to take that because I’m lucky a lot of you like my stuff, and to be honest, I’m surprised,” he told the crowd. “I’m not surprised that other people don’t. It’s normal.
“But this week, the criticism was about something much more important, and I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.”
Sheeran went on to say that the controversy had placed him in a position he had long sought to avoid.
“I don’t want to disappoint fans, and I’ve 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,” he said.
📲| Ed’s full speech thanking for the support:
‘The last week of my life was been one of the worst weeks… tonight has been honestly the best show of my life’
‘In this situations you really find out who your friends are… people I’ve knew from years ago are backing away’ pic.twitter.com/7iZIxrcujC
— Ed Sheeran Access (@AccessEdSheeran) September 20, 2026
“My concerts have always been a safe space for everyone, and that matters hugely to me. Honouring my commitment to my fans is also completely central to who I am, and that is why I’m here tonight on my own and continuing my current tour.”
He then raised concerns about venues having control over performers’ material, saying: “I am deeply worried about the idea that venues should pre-approve content for performers. This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.”
Sheeran then directly addressed the Israel-Gaza conflict, having previously said he was “not complicit” in Macklemore being dropped from the tour.
“I’ve tried in my career to not be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division, about humanity, not politics,” he said.
“But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore.
“What happened in Israel at the Nova music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic, unjustifiable, and disproportionate.
“My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives. And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”
Sheeran added that he was “already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times”, and said he was “listening and learning because I do not know enough”.
He continued: “I honestly am so grateful that you’re here tonight with me. This concert is still a place where everyone is welcome, and everyone here can stand beside people who have opposing views.
🎥| Ed getting emotional tonight on stage while thanking the crowd for the support ❤️🩹
“I will never stop doing this.” pic.twitter.com/L9Mg9uVSrD
— Ed Sheeran Access (@AccessEdSheeran) September 20, 2026
“Everyone here can stand by people who don’t agree with on everything, and they can all agree on singing these songs. And these songs are about love, hope and unity.”
Later in the concert, Sheeran revealed the extent to which the controversy had affected him, saying he had considered whether to continue the tour – and his career.
“The last week of my life has been one of the worst weeks of my life, and today has been one of the weirdest days of my life,” he told the crowd. “Tonight has been honestly the best show of my life.
“I really didn’t know whether this tour would carry on, I really didn’t know whether I’d get on stage again, whether I even wanted to be an artist at all.”
He continued: “But, you know, in these situations, you really find out who your friends are. And it’s been a weird week. I just feel like everything happened very quickly.
“And the whole time I have so many people telling me to cancel this tour, and I have so many people falling out of my life that I’ve known for years and years and years, people just kind of backing away.”
Sheeran said seeing that fans were still buying tickets had helped convince him to continue.
“I saw ticket sales for this gig, and I didn’t see cancellations; I saw people buying tickets,” he said. “I’m there, and everyone’s telling me to cancel, and I’m feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me.
“And I look at the end of the week, and I see 50,000 people who haven’t abandoned me. People will say what they want, but I’m doing this for you. I love you. I love this. I love the unison we have here. I love the feeling this concert brings. I love bringing people together of all races, all religions, all political ideas.”
He concluded: “The root of it is love. And if this tour ends, love doesn’t win. Love doesn’t win. You know? I can’t let you guys down. That’s why I’m here tonight, on my own, for you guys.”
Despite referring to being “on my own”, Sheeran did perform with replacement musicians at points during the concert.
The controversy began after Macklemore made an impassioned “Free Palestine” speech while supporting Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where he also performed his protest track ‘Hind’s Hall’ alongside footage from Gaza.
He subsequently faced calls for his removal from the tour, including from Pink and the Israeli American Council.
Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft later said he found Macklemore’s comments “deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community”. Sheeran maintained that the final decision to drop the rapper had been made by promoter Messina Touring Group after a number of venues objected to Macklemore appearing.
The decision prompted FINNEAS, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga to withdraw as support acts, while Sheeran’s backing musicians also pulled out.
‼️| Ed Sheeran came to stage before starting the show tonight to adress everything that happened this past week & acknowledged he’s performing alone & that the tour will continue
— He told the crowd how grateful he is that people are there and how everyone is welcome in there pic.twitter.com/xpik3TwcDD
— Ed Sheeran Access (@AccessEdSheeran) September 20, 2026
Macklemore later pledged to donate his entire $1million earnings from the tour to six organisations supporting Palestinians, while Kraft said Sheeran had asked him to match a $2million humanitarian contribution.
Sheeran’s handling of the situation has drawn criticism from numerous musicians. Billy Bragg said he risked “tarnishing” his career and becoming “a pariah”, before later saying he was “not impressed” by what he described as Sheeran’s attempt to “deflect the current storm of criticism”.
Massive Attack said that “‘neutrality’ in the face of the slaughter of more than 20,000 children can never be neutrality”, while Roger Waters called Sheeran a “little prick” and praised Macklemore for doing “the right thing”.
More recently, Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey said Sheeran’s treatment of Macklemore “doesn’t sit right”, while Hayley Williams showed solidarity with the acts who left the tour by adding all four to her pre-show playlist.
