India, Sept. 20 -- Ed Sheeran has apologised to fans for making "mistakes" as he opened a solo show in Philadelphia, addressing the controversy that has engulfed his tour. The star responded to the fallout over rapper Macklemore being dropped from the tour for making pro-Palestinian remarks on stage earlier in September.

"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," Sheeran said at Saturday's show. In his first in-person remarks since the controversy began, he described the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks as "horrific" and called the situation in Gaza "unjustifiable."

The controversy began when ...