Ed Sheeran Delivers Emotional Apology to Fans During Philadelphia Concert

Before I play some songs tonight, I hope it's okay if I say a few words about this last week. A lot of you have been criticised 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 that I've been done things normally. But this week the criticism was about something much more important and I've had to take and make difficult decisions. And I am making mistakes and I'm so, so sorry. I don't want to disappoint fans and I've never wanted to be an activist musician but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet. Conferences have always been a safe space for everyone and that matters hugely to me. Honouring my commitment to my fans is also completely essential to who I am and that is why I'm here tonight on my own and continuing my current tour. But I am the idea that venues should pre-approve content and performance. This happens in so many places that I perform around the world but it should never happen in the free world. I want to address the question of where I stand in the situation in Israel and Palestine and whether my doing this concert here tonight implies where I stand. I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division. About humanity, not politics. But this is a humanitarian issue and I cannot hide how I feel. What happened in Israel at the Nobel Music Festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians' lives. Children's lives. And the systemic injustice we're seeing unfolding in the West Bank cannot be overlooked. I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times. I'm listening and learning because I do not know enough. I honestly am so grateful that you're here tonight with me. This concert is still a place where everyone is welcome and everyone here can stand beside people that have opposing views and everyone here can stand beside people that they don't agree with on everything. They can all agree on singing these songs. These songs are about love and unity.