Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside Ed Sheeran’s concert at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night as the singer returned to the stage for the first time since rapper Macklemore was dropped from his Loop Tour over pro-Palestinian remarks.
The demonstration drew around 100 participants, planned for 4:30 p.m. outside the South Philadelphia stadium ahead of Sheeran’s 8 p.m. performance. Speakers from Writers Against the War on Gaza and the Boycott Cooknsolo Coalition were among those who addressed the crowd.
Protester Jodi Rhoden told Variety the protest was “much bigger than Ed Sheeran” and “much bigger than Macklemore.”
“It’s a movement for Palestinian lives, and it’s not going to stop until Palestine is free,” she said.
The protest came amid mounting fallout from Macklemore’s removal from Sheeran’s U.S. stadium tour. The rapper had opened Sheeran’s 4 and 5 September concerts at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where he performed his 2024 pro-Palestinian protest song “Hind’s Hall,” displayed footage from Gaza and called for a “Free Palestine” from the stage.
Days later, tour promoter Messina Touring Group announced that Macklemore would no longer appear on the remaining dates. The promoter said several stadiums had indicated they would not permit concerts to proceed with Macklemore on the lineup.
Macklemore subsequently said New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft played a central role in the decision. Kraft’s company owns Gillette Stadium, where Sheeran is scheduled to perform 25 and 26 September, and Macklemore alleged that Kraft rallied other stadium owners behind an ultimatum that the rapper be removed.
Kraft acknowledged opposing Macklemore’s participation at Gillette Stadium, saying in a statement that it “would cross that line.” He argued that Macklemore’s presentation of the Israel-Hamas war ignored Hamas’s actions and contributed to divisiveness. Macklemore has defended his advocacy for Palestinians and rejected accusations that it amounts to antisemitism.
Sheeran has said the decision to drop Macklemore was made by the tour promoter and venues rather than by him. At Saturday’s show, the singer addressed the matter directly for the first time.
“I never wanted to be an activist musician but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about free speech and the most complex political issue on the planet,” he told the audience, BBC reported.
Sheeran said the 7 October 2023 attacks were “horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain,” while adding that “what is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
The controversy has drawn a wider exodus from the tour. Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and the Irish group Beoga all withdrew following Macklemore’s removal. Saturday’s Philadelphia show was pushed from its originally advertised 5:30 p.m. start to 8 p.m., with Sheeran listed as the only act on the bill. Ticket resale prices for remaining U.S. dates have dropped, with some going for as low as $32.
