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Sheeran Calls Gaza Situation Unjustifiable Amid Tour Crisis

Dana Whitfield · 2026-09-20T13:20:28.209Z

Ed Sheeran is right to call the response in Gaza disproportionate even after losing his openers over it.

Sheeran Calls Gaza Situation Unjustifiable Amid Tour Crisis — Photo: Eva Rinaldi from Sydney, Australia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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Ed Sheeran told a Philadelphia crowd at Lincoln Financial Field that what happened in Israel and at the Nova music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain, and described Israel's subsequent war in Gaza as catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. Macklemore was removed in early September after saying Free Palestine at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 4; Sheeran said promoters made that decision, not him. All four supporting acts, including Finneas, withdrew. Finneas posted: I stand with Palestine and its people. Sheeran called it an important and passionate argument about free speech and the most complex political issue on the planet, apologized for making mistakes, and said he was deeply worried about venues pre-approving content. Outside, demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and chanted Free, free Palestine. Hillary Steinberg took a refund and joined them, saying all art is political. U.S. ticket prices and sales fell; the tour continues through the Americas. Contested: none found. Outlets split on leading with Oct. 7 and Jewish pain versus Gaza unjustifiable language or the complex-issue line.