FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Protests are planned ahead of Ed Sheeran’s concerts at Gillette Stadium this weekend.
Sheeran is scheduled to perform on September 25 and 26 as part of his LOOP Tour. However, the singer has faced backlash surrounding his former opening act, Macklemore, who has made several pro-Palestinian statements.
Macklemore said he was removed from the tour after making several comments about the war, including repeated calls to “Free Palestine.”
The rapper also drew criticism from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who announced Macklemore would no longer be allowed to perform in Foxborough. Following that decision, other venues also moved to bar Macklemore from performing.
The backlash sparked additional fallout for Sheeran’s tour. Several opening acts and members of his house band reportedly left in support of Macklemore.
“What happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain,” Sheeran said on stage in Philadelphia this past weekend. “What is happening in [Gaza] is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate. Our heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians’ lives, of children’s lives.”
Massachusetts Peace Action is organizing the protests, including one at the southeast corner of North Street and Route 1 in Foxborough an hour before the concert gates open at 2:30 p.m.
“For organizers of the Foxborough demonstration, the controversy raises another issue that fits directly into the broader September 26 mobilization: the growing power of billionaires and powerful institutions to shape both our politics and the boundaries of public debate,” the group said.
“The statewide Stop the Madness actions are addressing war and militarism abroad and the concentration of wealth and power at home, including U.S. policy toward Palestine, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba; enormous military spending; attacks on immigrants and civil liberties; climate destruction; and the increasing influence of billionaire wealth over public life.”
There will also be protests on Park Street in Boston at 12 p.m. and at the Big E Fair in Springfield at 10:30 a.m.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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