Charlotte Church has criticised Ed Sheeran for “choosing consumerism and capitalism over doing the right thing” amid the controversy around Macklemore’s removal from his tour.
Earlier this month, Sheeran faced ridicule after rapper Macklemore announced he had been fired from the British singer-songwriter’s Loop tour over his pro-Palestine comments at an earlier gig.
Macklemore claimed that Robert Kraft – the CEO of Kraft Group who owns Gillette Stadium – personally called Sheeran to say he would not be allowed to perform at the venue, while Sheeran later responded by stating he would not be drawn into a public debate about the Gaza war and that it was “the promoter’s decision” to remove Macklemore.
Welsh singer Church addressed the situation during a show on Monday (21 September), telling the crowd: “Whilst he has made millions and has an enormous following, he has an enormous platform to do real good in the world. He chose consumerism and capitalism over doing the right thing. Ed Sheeran, we’re watching you. Free Palestine.”
Sheeran’s initial statement prompted all of his support acts to withdraw from the tour, and the singer spoke about the controversy after returning to the stage alone on Saturday (19 September).
“I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes,” he said. “I’m so, so sorry. I don’t want to disappoint fans,” he said. “I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel, and at the music festival on October 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
Sheeran gave his personal views on the Gaza situation, saying: “My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilian loss and loss of children’s lives. And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfolding in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”
He also said that he went ahead with the show as honouring his commitment to his fans is “completely central to who” he is.
The gig was pushed back to the later time of 8pm from 5:30pm ET due to Sheeran’s support acts quitting, while pro-Palestine protesters positioned themselves outside of the venue.
Just hours earlier, Saturday Night Live UK mocked Sheeran in a sketch, which depicted the singer as “sitting on the fence” as war broke out between humans and artificially intelligent robots. “I don’t like to take sides. I don’t want to alienate any of my fans – humans or robots,” cast member Annabel Marlow said as Sheeran, complete with ginger hair, guitar and tattoos.
“A lot of my tickets are bought my scalping bots. Sometimes when it comes to conflicts, the bravest thing you can do is to say nothing at all.”
Sheeran is next due to perform on Saturday (25 September) at Kraft’s Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.
