Ed Sheeran opened his concert in Philadelphia on Saturday by addressing the controversy surrounding Macklemore’s removal from his tour, concerns over venues restricting artists’ speech, and his own views on Israel and Palestine.
Saturday’s show marked Sheeran’s first concert since Macklemore was removed as a support act from the tour after several stadium operators, led by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, objected to the Seattle rapper’s previous remarks in support of Palestine and threatened to block him from performing if he remained on the bill. In response to Macklemore’s removal, Sheeran’s remaining openers – FINNEAS, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe – along with his live backing band Beoga, withdrew from the tour in solidarity with Macklemore and Palestine.
“This is not usually how I would open the show, but before I play some songs tonight, I hope it’s okay if I say a few words about this last week,” Sheeran said, reading prepared remarks during Saturday’s show in Philadelphia. “I’m used to my music being criticized, 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. 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.”
“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 continued.
“My concerts have always been a safe space for everyone, and that matters hugely to me. Honoring 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.”
Turning specifically to the role of venue owners in the controversy, Sheeran stressed he was “deeply worried about the idea that venues should pre-approve content for performance,” adding, “This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.”
He then sought to “address the question of where I stand in the situation in Israel and Palestine, and whether my doing this concert here tonight implies where I stand.”
“I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division – about humanity, not politics. But this is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore,” he said.
“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 said he is “already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times, and listening and learning because I do not know enough.” Sheeran has already secured a $2 million commitment from Kraft for humanitarian aid in the region, matching Sheeran’s own $2 million pledge.
Sheeran concluded his opening remarks by thanking those in attendance and emphasizing his desire for the concert to remain a space where people with opposing views can come together. “This concert is still a place where everyone is welcome, and everyone here can stand beside people that have opposing views. Everyone here can stand by people that they don’t agree with on everything, and they can all agree on singing these songs. And these songs are about love, hope, and unity.”
Sheeran further addressed the events of the past week at several other points during the show, revealing that security concerns had forced him to alter the stage setup. During another lengthy speech toward the end of the evening, he said he had considered canceling the remainder of the tour and felt abandoned by certain friends and family, but ultimately decided to continue after seeing that fans were still holding on to tickets for the Philadelphia show.
“The whole time, I had so many people telling me to cancel this tour, and so many people coming out of my life that I’ve known for years and years and years just kind of backing away. And in the back of my mind, I saw the ticket sales for this gig. I didn’t see cancellations, I saw people buying tickets for this gig,” Sheeran commented. “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 am doing this for you. I love you. I love this. I love what this concert brings. I love bringing people together from all backgrounds, all races, all religions, all political ideas. Lots of people here have differing opinions, and we’ve had a great night. You are standing next to people and dancing with people you may disagree with, but you probably understand them better by being one and loved. And I have had so many opinions on this, but the root of it is love. And if this tour ends, love doesn’t win. Love doesn’t win. I can’t let you guys down. I can’t, and that’s why I’m here tonight on my own,” he added.
Watch video of Sheeran’s remarks and read them in full below.
📲| 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
Ed Sheeran’s Opening Speech:
“This is not usually how I would open the show, but before I play some songs tonight, I hope it’s okay if I say a few words about this last week. I’m used to my music being criticized, 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. 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.
“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. Of course.
“My concerts have always been a safe space for everyone, and that matters hugely to me. Honoring 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.
“But I am deeply worried about the idea that venues should pre-approve content for performance. This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.
“Now, I want to address the question of where I stand in the situation in Israel and Palestine, and whether my doing this concert here tonight implies where I stand. I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division—about humanity, not politics. 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.
“I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times, and listening and learning because I do not know enough.
“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 that have opposing views. Everyone here can stand by people that they don’t agree with on everything, and they can all agree on singing these songs. And these songs are about love, hope, and unity.”
Ed Sheeran’s Closing Speech:
“The last week of my life has been one of the worst weeks of my life. Today has been one of the weirdest days of my life. Tonight has been honestly the best show of my life—the best show.
“I really didn’t know whether this tour would be carrying on. I really didn’t know whether I’d even be getting on stage again, whether I even wanted to be an artist at all. In these situations, you really find out who your friends are, and it’s been a weird week. I just feel like it happened very quickly. And the whole time, I had so many people telling me to cancel this tour, and so many people coming out of my life that I’ve known for years and years and years just kind of backing away.
“And in the back of my mind, I saw the ticket sales for this gig. I didn’t see cancellations—I saw people buying tickets for this gig. And then, you know, 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 am doing this for you. I love you. I love this. I love what this concert brings. I love bringing people together from all backgrounds, all races, all religions, all political ideas. Lots of people here have differing opinions, and we’ve had a great night. You are standing next to people and dancing with people you may disagree with, but you probably understand them better by being one and loved. And I have had so many opinions on this, but the root of it is love. And if this tour ends, love doesn’t win. Love doesn’t win.
“I can’t let you guys down. I can’t, and that’s why I’m here tonight on my own.
“I know how much effort it takes for you guys to get here. It’s not just a ticket that you buy. It’s hotels, it’s flights, it’s buses, it’s babysitters, it’s restaurants that you’ve booked in town before you’ve come here, it’s people staying with you that you’re going to the gig with, it’s having your grandmother come to stay. It’s a hell of a lot of effort. There’s a hell of a lot of stories here, a hell of a lot of families, a hell of a lot of love. And I can’t just bury my head and go, ‘Oh, that doesn’t matter anymore.’
“This wasn’t the easy option tonight. I didn’t know what was going to happen; I heard all sorts of things were going to happen. I didn’t know whether I’d be safe, or you’d be safe, or things would be thrown at me, or people would boo. And I’ve walked out, and I’ve felt so much love from you guys, and I’m so grateful.
“The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now. This gives hope. This gives hope. Thank you so much, Philadelphia. I hope you all have had fun.
“The one thing that I would like to apologize for is the first bit of the show where it wasn’t about music and I had to talk. I understand that people have children here, and I understand that families didn’t buy a ticket to hear that first bit of the show, but that was something I felt like I needed to say. I felt there was a lot of questions that I needed to answer. So for all the parents out there that have brought their kids here tonight, thank you so much for bringing them, and I do apologize for the first bit of the show.
“My shows are about this: they’re about unity, they’re about love, they’re about family. They’re about people coming together that don’t know each other, that have different beliefs, and jumping around like maniacs with each other and having fun. And I will never stop doing this. I will never stop doing this. I love doing this so much.
“Philadelphia, thank you.”
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