US fans with Ed Sheeran tickets are left 'torn' by Macklemore controversy
With Sheeran's next gig due this weekend, some fans said they were in two minds about the show.
US fans with Ed Sheeran tickets are left 'torn' by Macklemore controversy
Ed Sheeran's tour in 'damage control mode' after Macklemore backlash
The growing dispute over pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore being removed as a support act for Ed Sheeran has thrown the tour into turmoil and left concert-goers caught up in the tense Israel-Gaza debate.
Fans who spoke to the BBC — including some who have tickets for Sheeran's next show — have been divided since Macklemore was dropped from the Loop Tour this week after his on-stage "free Palestine" protest.
All of Sheeran's opening acts have since pulled out in solidarity.
"I'm still torn," Damien Given told the BBC when asked whether he would go to Sheeran's show on Saturday, describing the singer's response as disingenuous. Another fan called it a "no-win situation".
Since the controversy erupted earlier this week, ticket prices for his remaining shows in the US, Mexico and South America have fallen, as boycott calls have spread.
Sheeran has responded, saying he has been "appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine", but would not be drawn into a political debate.
He said that "those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum" and stressed that he was not responsible for Macklemore's removal from the tour.
Even so, the backlash has come from every direction.
Some are angry that Sheeran's tour is going ahead without all the advertised acts and want refunds. They said it is no longer the show they paid for.
Given, who is from Northern Ireland, said he has been torn over the tickets he has for Saturday's show in Philadelphia.
It will be Sheeran's first time back on stage since the controversy escalated.
Given said he felt Macklemore had been treated "very, very wrong" and believed Sheeran was not being open with fans.
"[Sheeran] said he was in support of Ukraine when the Ukraine-Russia war started," said Given.
"You can't just say now suddenly, 'I'm not political.'"
Damien Given and his wife, Kellie, danced to one of Sheeran's songs at their wedding
But he explained the emotional link he feels to Sheeran's music, which has drawn him to Saturday's concert.
The singer's hit Thinking Out Loud was the first dance at Given's wedding.
"When she danced," Given, 52, said, recalling the moment with his bride, "the first words of the song were, 'When your legs don't work like they used to before.'"
His wife, Kellie, had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and could barely walk. She died four years later, in 2024.
Given said that without "that connection, I would absolutely" not be going, but "I'm probably leaning towards going".
Fellow fan Patti Ann has felt less conflicted about the backlash and instead said Sheeran was in a "no-win situation".
"I back [Sheeran] 100% for his decision," she said. "I feel like he has an obligation and a contract with his venues, and sometimes, financially, you can't get out of those types of things."
Ann, who has been a Sheeran fan for years, said she thinks a concert venue is not the place for politics.
Believe what you want, she said, "just don't press it on me".
She still plans to attend his show in Atlanta, Georgia, in October.
Heather Park is worried some shows might be cancelled
Matt Jaye, a Jewish-American from Florida, said he was outraged when he watched Macklemore's comments on a New Jersey stage earlier this month in support of Palestine.
He contacted Ticketmaster and asked for a refund for tickets he has for Sheeran's November show in Tampa, Florida.
His request was denied, which he said was "pretty upsetting".
His view changed, though, after Macklemore was removed from Sheeran's line-up.
"I'm not in favour of a one-sided presentation of things from an artist," Jaye, 48, said. "That's not why I'm going to the concert."
Jaye said he believed Sheeran bore some responsibility for Macklemore's pro-Palestinian protest.
"If [Sheeran's] saying that he's apolitical, I would expect him to maintain those same standards for the artists that he's bringing on," he said.
"I don't think he handled it in the best way possible."
He added that he would have liked Sheeran to apologise to the Jewish community for making part of his audience "very uncomfortable".
Some fans are worried about what will happen to the tour by the time Sheeran is due to play in their city.
Heather Park, who has tickets this weekend, said she's worried some shows might be cancelled.
"My main thing was to go see Ed Sheeran," she said. "Macklemore was just a bonus."
While Park, 49, believes Macklemore's removal was unfair and a violation of free speech, she said she's mostly unbothered by the drama and prefers to separate the artist from the art.
"I still like the music," she says.