At his first concert since controversy roiled his North American tour, Ed Sheeran said he is “deeply worried” by venues influencing performances after opener Macklemore was fired from the concert lineup for making pro-Palestinian remarks on stage.

“I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I am so, so sorry,” Sheeran told the crowd Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia. Earlier in the evening, before the 8 p.m. concert, dozens of pro-Palestinian activists protested outside the Linc for what they called censorship.

The British singer-songwriter said he’s never wanted to disappoint fans or be an “activist musician,” but he’s been thrust into the middle of “important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet.”

Earlier this month, the supporting act, “Thrift Shop” rapper Macklemore, performed his 2024 protest song, “Hind’s Hall,” which is about pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University. During the show, Macklemore chanted “Free Palestine” and a screen behind him showed footage from the war in Gaza. In both the song and his statements to the crowd, Macklemore implied he believes the conflict is a genocide.

Afterwards, Macklemore said he had been fired after venues told the tour’s promoter they would prohibit the rapper from performing because of his comments. Sheeran said that venues threatened to “pull” upcoming shows if Macklemore stayed on the billing because of how he “conveyed part of his message.” Both artists attributed those statements to Robert Kraft, owner of Gillette Stadium where Sheeran’s “Loop Tour” is scheduled to stop later this month.

“I am deeply worried about the idea that venues could pre-approve content and performance,” Sheeran said. “This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world.”

Sheeran, who has been an apolitical pop figure, acknowledged the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, saying it was “horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain.” He also said what’s happening in Gaza is “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate” and that the “systemic injustice we’re seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”

Throughout the more than two-minute speech, a seemingly emotional Sheeran said that he wants his concerts to be a “safe space for everyone”:

“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 by people that they don’t agree with on everything,” he said, “but they can all agree on singing these songs.”

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