Singer Ed Sheeran gave a speech to the crowd before his concert in Philadelphia on Saturday night about the controversy he found himself embroiled in with Macklemore.
Macklemore, a 43-year-old rapper, was removed from the remaining dates of Sheeran’s Loop tour after drawing backlash from Jewish groups for saying that part of his reason for participating in the tour was to let people in the “occupied West Bank” know they had not been forgotten. The Sept. 4 comments, which were made at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, prompted the Israeli American Council to call for his removal from the rest of the tour, as Macklemore had previously faced backlash in 2014 for wearing a costume onstage that pro-Israeli groups said resembled anti-Jewish caricatures.
Gillette Stadium, which is owned by Jewish billionaire Robert Kraft, was one such venue where Macklemore was scheduled to perform. Sheeran said in an initial statement that he spoke with Kraft and other venue owners in an attempt to prevent them from removing Macklemore from the remaining shows, but “the venue’s and promoter’s decision was final.”
Sheeran openly wept while saying that though he’s used to his music being criticized, “this week, the criticism was about something much more important,” according to the New York Post.
“I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes,” he said. “I’m so, so sorry. I don’t want to disappoint fans.”
“I’ve tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind, because I want my music and my 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 a music festival on Oct. 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
He framed the situation as one being about free speech, saying that “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.” He also apologized to the parents and children at the show for referencing the controversy, saying, “I do apologize for the first part of the show.”
“I honestly am so grateful that you’re here tonight with me,” Sheeran also said. “This concert is still a place where everyone is welcome and everyone here can stand beside people that have opposing views, and everyone here can stand by people they don’t agree with on everything — but they can all agree on singing these songs.”
ED SHEERAN RESPONDS TO BACKLASH OVER MACKLEMORE REMOVAL: ‘I AM NOT COMPLICIT’
Macklemore said in a statement on social media on Monday that his pro-Palestinian opinions were “conflated with hatred of the Jewish people.” He also said he understood Sheeran’s “typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it had never been before,” but that “there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside Lincoln Field before the concert started.
