Ed Sheeran broke down in tears onstage in Philadelphia after saying friends and relatives had distanced themselves from him amid the fallout over rapper Macklemore’s removal from his tour following pro-Palestinian remarks.
The 35-year-old singer addressed the controversy during his Saturday night performance at Lincoln Financial Field, at one point sitting down onstage as he described what he called one of the hardest weeks of his life.
The dispute began earlier this month after Macklemore, who had been appearing as an opening act at Sheeran’s New Jersey shows, repeatedly called to “free Palestine” from the stage. Macklemore was subsequently removed from the tour, prompting criticism of Sheeran and a wave of withdrawals by other opening acts, including members of his supporting band, according to the report.
“In situations like this, you really find out who your friends are. It’s been a strange week,” Sheeran told the crowd. “It happened very quickly. At the same time, so many people told me to cancel this tour, and so many people I’ve known for years and years are just distancing themselves from me.”
Sheeran said the reaction around him contrasted sharply with what he was seeing from fans.
“I looked at the ticket sales for this show and I didn’t see cancellations, I saw people buying tickets to this show,” he said. “But everyone is telling me to cancel, and I feel like all my friends and family and people I know are abandoning me.”
He said he decided to continue performing rather than disappoint concertgoers.
“I look at this weekend and I see 50,000 people who haven’t abandoned me,” Sheeran said. “People will say what they want, but I do this for you. I love you.”
When the crowd responded with cheers, Sheeran began crying, saying he had feared he might instead be met with boos.
“The world is a scary place right now. America is a scary place right now,” he said.
The singer also revealed that unusual security precautions had been taken for the Philadelphia show because he feared people might throw objects at him while he performed.
“I’m sorry that today isn’t a normal show,” he told the audience. “I took out the B stage because I was scared about what might happen if I stood in the middle. And I admit that.”
Sheeran did not identify the relatives who had cut contact with him, but the public dispute has also reached his own family.
His cousin, Jethro Sheeran, attacked him in an Instagram post on Thursday, saying he was “ashamed” of the singer and accusing him of treating him badly.
“Finally it’s all coming out,” Jethro wrote. “I’m ashamed of my cousin Ed and what he has done. Finally the world and all his fans are seeing who he really is.”
He went on to call Sheeran “selfish” and accused him of mocking his mental health.
The upheaval has pushed Sheeran, who initially became embroiled in the Israel-Gaza debate through Macklemore’s appearances at his shows, into a controversy that has now spread far beyond the original decision to remove the rapper.
Onstage in Philadelphia, however, Sheeran framed his decision to keep performing around the audience in front of him, thanking tens of thousands of fans for showing up despite the calls for him to cancel.