During his Sept. 19 tour stop in Philadelphia, singer Ed Sheeran immediately addressed the public controversy that has unfolded over the last week, which left him with no openers or his original band.
At the Lincoln Financial Field show, Sheeran took the stage solo at the top of the show, acknowledging that he has faced criticism about his music before, but this past week was “about something much more important.”
Acknowledging that he didn’t want to disappoint fans and has “never wanted to be an activist musician,” Sheeran addressed the controversies surrounding his tour.
“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 said.
This was the first
scheduled tour stop following rapper Macklemore being dropped from the show, a move Sheeran said was decided by promoters, not himself.
The clash started after Macklemore faced heavy backlash from stadium owners for "Free Palestine" remarks made during the tour's MetLife Stadium show.
The rapper said in a lengthy statement online that he was dropped from Sheeran's tour after a number of stadium owners gave Sheeran the "ultimatum" that if Macklemore was on the tour, they would not be permitted to play the venue.
Openers Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe were slated to perform ahead of Sheeran, though both dropped out of the tour in solidarity with Macklemore and the pro-Palestinian movement.
Sheeran's band, Beoga, also dropped out of the tour.
Kaitlyn McCormick is a Philadelphia-based reporter writing all things trending, breaking and city-related for USA TODAY's Philadelphia Metro Connect Team.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ed Sheeran speaks out in Philly, says controversy 'put me in the middle'
