The Aporia · READ IT: Ed Sheeran's pre-concert speech to Philly crowd about the Gaza controversy

READ IT: Ed Sheeran's pre-concert speech to Philly crowd about the Gaza controversy

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Stimson, B. (2026, September 20). READ IT: Ed Sheeran's pre-concert speech to Philly crowd about the Gaza controversy. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/read-it-ed-sheerans-pre-concert-speech-philly-crowd-about-gaza-controversy

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Quick Summary

Ed Sheeran addressed his Philadelphia concert crowd about recent controversies involving artists expressing support for Palestine, leading some to drop out of tours. He expressed regret over the situation and emphasized the importance of free speech while acknowledging the complexity of the Israel-Palestine conflict. Sheeran stated that he is deeply concerned by venue restrictions on performer content and shared his views on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the historical pain faced by Jewish people, pledging to work on making a positive contribution towards resolving these issues.

Written by AI on 2026-09-20, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s US tour after making pro-Palestinian comments at concerts. The rapper was removed following his chants of “Free Palestine” and criticism of Israel's actions as apartheid and genocide during performances in New Jersey. Promoters for the tour, Messina Touring Group, confirmed they received notifications from American venues that Macklemore would not be allowed to perform, potentially resulting in tour cancellation. Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium where Sheeran was scheduled to play, reportedly pressured Sheeran over Macklemore’s involvement. In response, Charlotte Church criticized Ed Sheeran during a concert for prioritizing profits over addressing the Gaza conflict.

Written for “Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran Tour” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 120 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

0 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

withheld

no quote in the article backed the model's score

Publisher signals

69/100

Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

121

Entertainment

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-20 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6257 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Brie Stimson

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All 45 articles by Brie Stimson →

Topics

Gaza Israel Jewish Palestine Philadelphia

Subjects

Israel GPE · 2× Ed Sheeran PERSON · 1× Gaza GPE · 1× Jewish NORP · 1× Macklemore PERSON · 1× Palestine GPE · 1× Philadelphia GPE · 1× the West Bank GPE · 1×

Narrative

Here is the full text of singer Ed Sheeran's speech before his Philadelphia concert Saturday night on the ongoing controversy after Macklemore was dropped as an opening act for making "free Palestine" comments and his other opening acts pulled out of his tour.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-20

2026-09-20 · Fox News

READ IT: Ed Sheeran's pre-concert speech to Philly crowd about the Gaza controversy · assertive framing

Claims (16 extracted, 0 hedged)

acts → drop → tour

"This is not usually how I open a show, but before I play some songs tonight I hope it’s OK if I say a few words about this last week. asserted

I → open → week

I’m used to my music being criticized, and I’m always happy to take that because I’m lucky a lot of you like my stuff, and to be honest I’m surprised I’m not surprised. asserted

I → ’m → stuff

And I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so sorry. asserted

I → have → mistakes

I don’t want to disappoint fans, and I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet. asserted

this → want → planet

"My concerts have always been a safe space for everyone and that matters hugely to me. asserted

that → matter → me

Honoring my commitment to my fans is also completely central to who I am, and that is why I’m here tonight on my own and continuing my current tour. asserted

I → honor → tour

"But I am deeply worried about the idea of venues pre-approving content of performers. asserted

venues → pre → performers

This happens in so many places I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world. asserted

it → happen → world

"Now, I want to address the question of where I stand in the situation in Israel and Palestine and whether this concert here tonight implies where I stand. asserted

I → want → Israel

I’ve tried in my career not be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity not division, about humanity not politics. asserted

music → try → humanity

"But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. asserted

I → hide → it

What happened in Israel at a … music festival on Oct. 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. asserted

happened → happen → pain

What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. asserted

happening → happen → Gaza

"My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives and the systemic justice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked. asserted

we → break → Bank

"I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times, and listening and learning because I do not know enough. asserted

I → speak → enough