Ed Sheeran tears up on stage at Philadelphia show as he is pushed into awkward U-turn amid Israel controversy

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By ASHLEIGH GRAY

Published: 02:08 BST, 20 September 2026 | Updated: 02:22 BST, 20 September 2026

Ed Sheeran has made his stance clear on the Israel-Palestine conflict after his Loop Tour fell apart amid Macklemore's 'Free Palestine' comments.

The 35-year-old singer-songwriter returned to the stage in Philadelphia on Saturday night for the first time since 43-year-old Macklemore, real name Benjamin Haggerty, was axed from the tour.

He made a solemn speech at Lincoln Financial Field, telling the audience that he plans to 'continue my own tour' despite each one of his opening acts dropping out in solidarity with Macklemore and Palestine. 

'What happened in Israel at 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,' he said in a video captured and shared online by a concertgoer. 

'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.'

It comes as the concert was swarmed by pro-Palestine protestors before he took the stage.

Ed Sheeran has made his stance clear on the Israel-Palestine conflict after his Loop Tour fell apart amid Macklemore's 'Free Palestine' comments; pictured in October 2025

It comes as the concert was swarmed by pro-Palestine protestors before he took the stage

The 35-year-old singer-songwriter returned to the stage in Philadelphia on Saturday night for the first time since 43-year-old Macklemore, real name Benjamin Haggerty, was axed from the tour; pictured in 2013