'I'm so, so sorry': Ed Sheeran addresses Philadelphia crowd after Macklemore-Palestine row

Ed Sheeran has apologised to fans for the handling of a controversy which has threatened to engulf his tour.

All of Sheeran's support acts - including his backing band - have quit the current Loop tour after the US rapper Macklemore was dropped following comments he made in support of Palestine during a show in New Jersey.

Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft barred the rapper from performing at the Massachusetts venue later this month, saying he would not "provide a platform for hate speech".

And following the decision of the support acts to pull out of the tour, Sheeran was forced to play a solo set at the Lincoln Financial Field Stadium in Philadelphia on Saturday, beginning the concert by addressing the week's events.

He said: "I've had to take, and make, difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes and I'm so, so sorry for them.

"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."

Sheeran insisted that he has tried to avoid becoming a "political commentator" during his career, and that he wants his music to be "about unity, not division".

He added: "This is a humanitarian issue, and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore.

"What happened in Israel and at the Nova music festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain.

"What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians' lives, children's lives."

Sheeran went on to thank fans for coming to the show, adding: "I am honestly 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, and everyone can stand beside people that they don't agree with on everything, but they can all agree on singing these songs."

Becoming emotional at the end of the gig, Sheeran reflected on feeling "abandoned" in the wake of the controversy.

The singer told the crowd he felt "so much love" from the audience, adding: "Everyone is 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.

"The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now. This gives hope."

Pro-Palestine protest near stadium

A small but vocal pro-Palestine demonstration was held several hundred metres from the venue, near the train station that serves the Lincoln Financial Field Stadium.

One woman told the Associated Press she was attending the protest after receiving a refund for her tickets to the concert.

Hillary Steinberg said: "I think all art is political, and all music is political, and so this choice - even though he was saying that he wasn't complicit - is a political choice."

Sheeran's ongoing tour began in Auckland, New Zealand, in January.

It will finish in Mexico City in December, with 16 other shows still scheduled across North and South America.

More from Sky News:
Earl Spencer accuses King of gaslighting him
Girl, 13, missing for eight days found safe and well

The other acts who dropped out include Irish singer Aaron Rowe, Grammy Award-winning musician Finneas, who is Billie Eilish's brother, and Danish singer Lukas Graham.

The start time for Saturday's show was pushed back from 5.30pm local time to 8pm and a small pro-Palestine protest was also held outside the subway station closest to the stadium.

(c) Sky News 2026: 'I'm so, so sorry': Ed Sheeran addresses Philadelphia crowd after Macklemore-Palestine row