Piers Morgan has hit out at Ed Sheeran for “bowing to the mob” during his Philadelphia concert after the singer tearfully addressed the controversy around Macklemore’s removal from his tour.
On Saturday, the British singer-songwriter took to the stage for the first time since Macklemore announced that he had been fired from Sheeran’s Loop tour over his pro-Palestine comments at an earlier gig. The rapper claimed that Robert Kraft – the CEO of Kraft Group who owns Gillette Stadium – personally called Sheeran to say he would not be allowed to perform at the venue, while Sheeran later responded by stating he would not be drawn into a public debate about the Gaza war and that it was “the promoter’s decision” to remove Macklemore.
After all of Sheeran’s remaining support acts withdrew from the tour earlier in the week, the singer appeared to read from an autocue as he apologised to his fans at last night’s concert. “I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes. I’m so, so sorry. I don’t want to disappoint fans,” he said. “I cannot hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel, and at the music festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain. What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
Now, broadcaster Piers Morgan has spoken out about Sheeran’s concert speech, saying that the singer looked like “some bullied puppet” reading from the autocue.
“I agree with Ed Sheeran’s overview of the Israel/Hamas war (Oct 7 terrible, Israel response disproportionate) but I wish he hadn’t bowed to the mob and felt forced to say it publicly, especially reading it off an autocue like some bullied puppet,” the outspoken journalist said on X. “He needs better advisors.”
Others commented on Sheeran’s apology, including presenter Richard Bacon – who said that the singer is “a good person with a good heart”.
“He’s a bloke trying to do his job, his way who got caught in a mincer movement. The chess pieces shifted against him,” he continued in a tweet. “It was bad luck. He is decent. Obviously.”
While earlier on Saturday, Jeremy Clarkson defended Sheeran, writing in his column in The Sun: “He literally said nothing at all and, for that, his fans are trying to offload tickets for his forthcoming tour, his support acts have all walked and, from what I hear, even his band is refusing to play with him.
I agree with Ed Sheeran’s overview of the Israel/Hamas war (Oct 7 terrible, Israel response disproportionate) but I wish he hadn’t bowed to the mob and felt forced to say it publicly, especially reading it off an autocue like some bullied puppet. He needs better advisors. https://t.co/RREh7QFDaq
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 20, 2026
“They want him to sound off on Palestine, and because he’s not really that sort of person, the keyboard warriors have sent him to Coventry.”
During Saturday’s show, Sheeran gave his personal views on the Gaza situation, saying: “My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilian loss and loss of children’s lives. And the systemic injustice we’re seeing unfolding the West Bank cannot be overlooked.”
He also said that he went ahead with the show as honouring his commitment to his fans is “completely central to who” he is.
The gig was pushed back to the later time of 8pm from 5:30pm ET due to Sheeran’s support acts quitting, while pro-Palestine protesters positioned themselves outside of the venue.
Just hours earlier, Saturday Night Live UK mocked Sheeran in a sketch, which depicted the singer as “sitting on the fence” as war broke out between humans and artificially intelligent robots. “I don’t like to take sides. I don’t want to alienate any of my fans – humans or robots,” cast member Annabel Marlow said as Sheeran, complete with ginger hair, guitar and tattoos.
