Ed Sheeran speaks out on Gaza

Celia Hatton (0:00)

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Celia Hatton, and in the early hours of Sunday, the 20th of September, these are our main stories. Ed Sheeran calls the situation in Gaza catastrophic at his first concert since the rapper Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour over pro-Palestinian comments. Children in Gaza return to damaged schools for their first formal schooling after nearly three years of war. And the Houthis in Yemen say they've launched missiles and drones at targets in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh.

Also in this podcast, how missing Y chromosomes could be an early warning sign of cancer and it becomes a larger meditation, I hope, about time and the mysteries of being alive and faith. A documentary filmmaker interviews the world's oldest people.

Ed Sheeran's been in the spotlight since the rapper Macklemore was dropped from his tour after making pro-Palestinian remarks. All of the British singer's supporting acts, including his band, withdrew from the tour in solidarity and ticket prices fell dramatically. But Ed Sheeran pushed ahead and at a solo concert in Philadelphia, he addressed the controversy for the first time.

Ed Sheeran (1:22)

I have tried in my career not to be a political commentator of any kind, because I want my music and shows to be about unity, not division, about humanity, not politics.

But this is a humanitarian issue, and I can't hide how I feel about it anymore. What happened in Israel, I never know, 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. My heart has been broken by the scale of devastation and loss of civilians' lives, of children's lives.

And the systemic injustice we're seeing unfold in the West Bank cannot be overlooked. I am already speaking to people across the spectrum to work out how to make a contribution that helps victims of these terrible times. And listening and learning, because I do not know enough.

Celia Hatton (2:23)

There was a notable police presence at the stadium in Philadelphia as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside.

SPEAKER_3 (2:31)

We need more people like Macklemore and other artists who have a voice, who have a public platform to be able to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation.

SPEAKER_4 (2:41)

I'm in solidarity with the Palestinian people. I certainly know as a black man in America how it feels to be oppressed, and genocide is wrong, and people have to have the courage from all walks of life to stand up and speak out against it.

Celia Hatton (2:54)

Our correspondent Carl Nassman spoke to me from outside the venue.

Carl Nassman (2:57)

We were in some of the first rows of the concert tonight, and everybody was waiting to hear how Ed Sheeran, whether Ed Sheeran would address the controversy of the past few days and weeks on his tour, and it was really the first thing he did. He walked out on stage by himself and he starts to talk of everyone through what he's been thinking, and you could hear the room in silent, that the stadium was really wrapped and paying attention to every word he said. And it seemed to go down very well. I think a lot of people were relieved that he came out, spoke what would have been on his mind, and especially addressing the situation in the Middle East, addressing the situation with the rapper Macklemore being dropped from his tour. And I should say, you know, the biggest, I think, applause and reaction to this speech was when he said that he was determined to continue his tour. He wanted to come tonight and play for all these fans, even though he said he had no backing band, he had no warm-up backs, but he was committed to continuing this tour because he said, you know, he was there really to perform for his tens of thousands of fans tonight.

Celia Hatton (4:00)

So Ed Sheeran was standing alone on stage. We were expecting a very stripped back show. What was it like?

Carl Nassman (4:07)

Yeah, it was, I think, one of those kinds of shows that really demonstrates how talented Ed Sheeran is as an artist. He was just there with him and his guitar, and he was using one of these loop machines where he can play a few chords, record that, play another few chords, record a bit of vocalization, and he loops it and he loops it, and he's able to make that into this rich, amazing backing track that he then would perform, I think maybe his first five or six songs that way. And then in the middle of the concert, there was a bit of a surprise. He said he had about three days to come up with a backing band that could make it to Philadelphia, that could learn the songs he wanted to perform, because he really emphasized he didn't want this concert to change too much for the people that paid to get into the venue, and he was able to dig up some friends of his that could play the drums, play the fiddle, play the guitar, and really be there to create this amazing atmosphere. So it was really a fun night. And there was actually this one emotional moment midway through the concert where he said, hey, I don't know if you've been looking recently at social media, but there's been a lot of chatter about me and about this concert. I was worried, he said, about the way that I might be received here by you. And that was when the entire stadium erupted into applause for, you know, really to support Ed Sheeran in that moment. And I think that kind of shows you. I think there've been some doubts about Ed Sheeran, maybe, you know, the way that he handled this, and he admitted that he made mistakes, but clearly he really had the support of that stadium tonight.