PRO-PALESTINE protests are set to take place outside Ed Sheeran’s latest US concert following the removal of Macklemore from his tour.
Local campaign groups have announced plans to demonstrate outside Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, where Sheeran is due to perform on Saturday night.
It comes after every supporting act on Sheeran’s Loop Tour pulled out of the remaining dates in solidarity with Macklemore, who was removed from the line-up following comments he made in support of Palestine.
The rapper was kicked off Sheeran’s tour on Monday after he told the audience at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last week he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had “not been forgotten” amid Israel’s genocide.
Tickets for Saturday’s concert have meanwhile been made available for as little as $76 (£57), while the start time has been pushed back from 5.30pm to 8pm, according to Ticketmaster.
The Philly Palestine Coalition and Shut Down D& have announced plans to protest outside the stadium, saying they would “take to the streets to return the conversation to Palestine, and return Philadelphia to action”.
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, had been due to support Sheeran at eight of the remaining 10 shows on the US leg of the tour.
On Monday, he posted on Instagram confirming Sheeran and his team had “made the decision to remove” him from the Loop Tour, receiving more than 6.7 million likes and over 250,000 comments in support of him speaking out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
During a show at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the rapper told people in Gaza and the West Bank that they had “not been forgotten”.
Sheeran later said the decision to remove Macklemore had been made by the tour’s promoter rather than him.
He said venues hosting upcoming dates had indicated they would pull the shows if Macklemore remained on the bill, naming Robert Kraft, the owner of Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, among those involved.
Sheeran said: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict.
“Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.
“Nor does it mean I don’t support causes in my own personal way.”
He added that he was “appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine” and said he respected Macklemore “as an artist”.
However, the decision prompted a string of withdrawals from the tour.
Irish singer Aaron Rowe, Grammy-winning musician Finneas, Danish artist Lukas Graham and Sheeran’s tour band Beoga all announced they would no longer take part in the remaining dates.
Beoga said they “fully supported” Macklemore’s message, while Rowe said he could not “stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide”.
Rowe subsequently defended Sheeran in a video posted on Friday, saying attention should instead be directed towards “the likes of Robert Kraft” and what he described as “Zionist lobbies that are trying to silence the voices of people who are shouting about genocide”.
Sheeran began his Loop Tour in Auckland, New Zealand, in January and has 18 shows remaining across North and South America.
Ticket prices vary significantly between the remaining dates.
Although Sheeran’s two shows in Hollywood, Florida, on October 29 and 30, have the minimum ticket prices currently advertising for 339 US dollars (£254), the price drops again for his final show, in Tampa on November 7.
Tickets for that show are selling for a minimum of 87 US dollars (£65).
For his final show of the tour, in Mexico City, the current prices sit at a minimum of 3,550 pesos, or £154.
