Ed Sheeran took the stage at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday and addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict directly, breaking from his usual concert format to speak about recent controversy surrounding his tour.
The British singer spoke after Macklemore, who was scheduled as an opening act on Sheeran's Eras Tour, faced backlash and was dropped following "free Palestine" comments on social media. Other opening acts subsequently withdrew.
"This is not usually how I open a show," Sheeran told the crowd. "But before I play some songs tonight I hope it's OK if I say a few words about this last week."
Sheeran acknowledged he had been forced into difficult decisions and said he had never wanted to be an activist musician.
"I've had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I'm so sorry," he said. "I don't want to disappoint fans, and I've never wanted to be an activist musician, but this put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet."
Sheeran did not shy away from naming specific harms. "What happened in Israel at a music festival on Oct. 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain," he said. "What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate."
He continued: "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 also raised concerns about venues pre-approving performer content. "I am deeply worried about the idea of venues pre-approving content of performers," he stated. "This happens in so many places I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world."
The artist explained his traditional reluctance to make political statements from the stage, saying his work should 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.
Sheeran told the audience 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."
He reassured concertgoers that "this concert is still a place where everyone is welcome, and everyone here can stand beside people who have opposing views."
