Ed Sheeran addresses Macklemore controversy at Philadelphia show

ByNardine Saad and Carl Nasman, Reporting fromPhiladelphia.

Key points

• You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App.
• The cost for tickets dropped and sales declined for the remaining US leg of his Loop Tour.
• Saturday's show at a Philadelphia sports stadium was a stripped down event and there were a number of empty seats in the venue when the concert began.
• The singer has remarked the decision to drop Macklemore was produced by his promoters, not him.
• After a number of musicians dropped out over the debacle, sheeran went on without opening acts, causing the show's start time to be pushed back.

British singer Ed Sheeran opened his latest concert alone onstage and spoke for the first time regarding the controversy that erupted over American rapper Macklemore being dropped from his tour over pro-Palestinian remarks.

"I never wanted to be an activist musician but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about free speech and the most complex political issue on the planet, " he remarked.

For context, the cost for tickets dropped and sales declined for the remaining US leg of his Loop Tour.

Meanwhile, the singer has remarked the decision to drop Macklemore was produced by his promoters, not him.

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Taken together, the developments around ed Sheeran addresses Macklemore controversy at Philadelphia show point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.