Ed Sheeran suffers major blow as Macklemore controversy rages on

Ed Sheeran has lost nearly 500,000 Instagram followers since Macklemore got kicked off his Loop Tour.

Macklemore announced that he was dropped from the tour because of his pro-Palestine comments on Sept. 14.

Before that announcement, Sheeran’s Instagram follower count stood at 47.6 million, but now it stands at 47.2 million. 

The major blow comes as Sheeran revealed he’s lost family and close friends due to the controversy.

“In these situations you really find out who your friends are. It’s been a weird week,” he tearfully told the crowd at his Saturday show in video captured by a fan.

“It happened very quickly. At the same time, I had so many people telling me to cancel this tour and so many people I’ve known for years and years and years they’re kind of backing away.”

“I look at the end of the week and I see 50,000 people who haven’t abandoned me,” he said. “People will say what they want, but I am doing this for you. I love you. I love this.”

Since igniting the controversy, all of Sheeran’s opening acts quit in solidarity with Macklemore.

Ahead of Saturday’s show in Philadelphia, the “Thinking Out Loud” singer took drastic security measures because he feared people would throw things at him onstage.

As Page Six previously reported, Macklemore was removed from the lineup after shouting “Free Palestine” and performing his 2024 protest song “Hind’s Hall” during his set at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month.

The “Thrift Shop” rapper addressed his firing in a statement shared to Instagram, claiming that Sheeran and his team made the decision to drop him after being pressured by Robert Kraft — owner of the Kraft Group, which operates Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts — and other stadium owners.

According to Macklemore, Kraft “gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”

Sheeran later addressed the situation in a statement on Instagram, claiming that Macklemore’s removal from the tour was the “promoter’s decision,” not his own, because his contract was “with the promoter” rather than Sheeran.

Sheeran insisted he tried to “build a bridge” between the two sides, but ultimately, the issue came down to the way “Macklemore conveyed part of his message during his performance.”

In addition to losing mass amounts of social media followers, Sheeran’s own cousin Jethro Sheeran called him “selfish,” “malicious” and “cunning,” in a scathing Instagram post last week following the controversy.

“He puts out [a] fake narrative that’s calculated just to keep everyone happy so he can do big, private gigs and keep brand deals, etc. I agree with all of the comments he’s [gotten] and [the] bad press,” Jethro wrote in part.

Fans have also demanded refunds for their concert tickets following Macklemore’s removal.

Sheeran’s next tour dates are Friday and Saturday at Kraft’s Gillette Stadium.