Ed Sheeran’s Saturday, September 19, Loop Tour concert in Philadelphia will feature a major change as the singer continues to face backlash.
The show will begin promptly at 8:00 p.m. ET, per Ticketmaster, three hours after it was initially scheduled to begin. The concert was previously scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. to account for multiple opening acts’ respective sets. (Sheeran took the stage at 8 p.m. on the dot during his most recent New Jersey concerts following three openers’ performances that kicked off at 5:30 p.m.)
Sheeran’s support acts, Macklemore, Finneas and Lukas Graham, are no longer on the Loop Tour bill, likely prompting the change as there are no opening acts on the lineup.
Macklemore, 43, and Graham, 37, both previously opened for Sheeran, 35, during his two concerts at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month. During the rapper’s performance of protest track “Hind’s Hall,” he chanted “Free Palestine” in front of the crowd while denouncing genocide and human rights violations in all forms.
After alleged pressure from stadiums hosting future Loop Tour concerts this fall, Sheeran’s tour promoter dismissed Macklemore from the lineup ahead of his remaining eight scheduled gigs.
“Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from the Loop Tour. I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim,” Macklemore wrote in a Monday, September 14, social media statement. “We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.”
Calling Sheeran a friend that he’s known for 13 years, Macklemore revealed the pair had “difficult conversations” about the tour’s future before the announcement.
“He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with,” Mackelmore alleged. “I hope this isn’t the end of my relationship with Ed. Thirteen years of friendship doesn’t disappear because of one painful disagreement. I hope we both continue listening, studying what is happening in Palestine and wrestling with what neutrality means in a moment like this. My door will always be open to continuing that conversation.”
Sheeran, for his part, denied that he was personally responsible for removing Macklemore from his upcoming shows.
“I was informed that this stance was based on how Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance, rather than on everything that was said,” Sheeran wrote in a Tuesday, September 15, statement about conversations with venue owners. “I spoke with the venues at length all week to try and build a bridge. … I have spent this week trying to build bridges, to find a solution and unfortunately, was unable to do so. I know who I am, both as a person and as an artist, and those who know my heart know my values too.”
Following the controversy, Graham and Finneas, 29, voluntarily backed out of their own Loop Tour sets in solidarity with Macklemore and the Palestinian people. Sheeran will now play the Philadelphia show solo.
Despite the controversy, Macklemore has remained committed to sharing his message in support of the people in Gaza. On Wednesday, September 16, the “Thrift Shop” rapper pledged to donate his $1 million Loop Tour salary to Palestinian organizations, challenging Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft to do the same.
Kraft, 85, later revealed that he and Sheeran each planned to donate $2 million to provide humanitarian aid.
