Fans who saw Ed Sheeran perform in Philadelphia last weekend say artists who share political opinions on stage risk pushing away a large share of their audience. Their comments came after Macklemore was dropped as Sheeran’s opening act following pro-Palestinian remarks he made at two shows.
Sheeran is scheduled to play two more concerts this Friday and Saturday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, a venue owned by Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Macklemore has said Kraft threatened to cancel the Gillette shows unless he was removed from the tour, and that Kraft also got other stadium owners to agree not to host Sheeran if the rapper stayed on.
Once Macklemore was dropped earlier this month, the other acts supporting Sheeran on tour quit in solidarity with him.
‘You’re Going to Alienate’ Half Your Audience
Outside last Saturday’s Philadelphia show, one woman told Fox News Digital that forcing Sheeran to take a side wasn’t fair to him.
“The fact that they’re forcing Ed Sheeran to have an opinion is not right. He wants to stay in the middle – if you have an opinion, that’s fine, but you’re going to alienate at least 50% of your population, and it causes unrest.”
She added that Sheeran “just wants to do his music and play his music, and people want to enjoy it. They want to get away from it, and I don’t feel as though they should have to worry about this stuff when they come to a concert.”
Sheeran Addresses the Crowd
During the Philadelphia concert, Sheeran gave a speech lasting nearly four minutes in which he told fans he never wanted to be an activist musician. He said he was continuing the tour alone to honor his commitment to fans, that he can see both sides of a complicated issue, that he doesn’t know enough about it, and that he is still learning and expects to make mistakes as he works through it. He said he could no longer hide how he feels about the humanitarian issue.
Other Fans Weigh In
Not every fan objected to artists speaking up. One concertgoer told Fox News Digital that musicians have the right to share their views, but added: “They also don’t have to — they’re entertainment. I have a right to choose to listen or to not listen. I think it’s all about my choice — I live in America, I can decide to ignore or to listen, and they have the same right.”
A woman who described herself as a schoolteacher compared concerts to her classroom.
“It’s a really tough thing. I am in a classroom every day, and I have my own thoughts on politics in the same way that I’m sure every artist does. I also do not share those with my students because I want them to have a safe space where they are who they are, and I think that’s kind of the same way I want concerts to be. I want us to have a space where we can be happy and get away from the rest of the world for a little while, and that’s why we’re here.”
Another fan said everyone is entitled to their own views and shouldn’t be pressured into a single stance. “We all come from different backgrounds, different understandings, and trying to group all those together and say, ‘you only have to have one opinion of everything,’ I think it kind of makes it rough for everyone to kind of just enjoy their lives and enjoy what makes them happy,” he said.
A woman at the concert said she simply wanted to support Sheeran as a working musician. “I support the artists — they’re here for the right reasons, and they’re here to make a living, they’re doing something that they love, and they pursue their music for a reason. We enjoy his music and that’s what we’re here for, minus everything else, we’re just here for a good time,” she said.
