Charlotte Church accuses Ed Sheeran of ‘choosing capitalism over doing the right thing’

Charlotte Church has accused Ed Sheeran of choosing “consumerism and capitalism over doing the right thing” over the removal of his friend and support act Macklemore from his US tour.

Sheeran’s tour was thrown into crisis after Macklemore made “Free Palestine” declarations on stage. After a significant backlash, including pressure from the owners of stadiums hosting scheduled shows, the rapper was removed from the tour. Shortly afterwards, Sheeran’s other support acts quit in solidarity.

Sheeran addressed the controversy during his concert in Philadelphia on Saturday, saying what is happening in Gaza is “catastrophic and unjustifiable”. He apologised to fans, saying: “I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry.” He added that he wanted his music and shows to be about unity and humanity, not politics.

Church, who has previously been vocal about her support for Palestinians, said: “Ed Sheeran, we’re watching you,” during a gig in Cardiff on Sunday, and urged the audience to chant “free Palestine”.

She said: “Whilst he [Sheeran] has made millions and has an enormous following – he has an enormous platform to do real good in the world – he chose consumerism and capitalism over doing the right thing.

“So we say the same thing to Ed Sheeran because fuck the fact that musicians shouldn’t be involved in politics. Fuck that shit. Politics is life.”

She added: “Ed Sheeran, we’re watching you,” and repeated the phrase multiple times with her bandmates.

Church has taken part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and has been a vocal opponent of the government’s proscription of Palestine Action. She has said the conflict has “massively changed” her.

Macklemore claimed that Robert Kraft – the CEO of the Kraft Group, which owns Gillette Stadium – personally called Sheeran to say he would not be allowed to perform at the venue. Sheeran later said he would not be drawn into a public debate about the war in Gaza and that it was “the promoter’s decision” to remove Macklemore.

On Saturday, Sheeran became emotional as he said he had been unsure “whether this tour would be carrying on” and “whether I even wanted to be an artist at all” after criticism levelled at him.

This included, just hours earlier, a Saturday Night Live UK sketch, which depicted the singer as “sitting on the fence” as war broke out between humans and AI 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. “A lot of my tickets are bought by scalping bots. Sometimes, when it comes to conflicts, the bravest thing you can do is to say nothing at all.”

Meanwhile, The Great British Bake Off star Nadiya Hussain shared a widely circulated video in which the therapist Megan Cooper accused Sheeran of crying “white tears” and playing “the victim”.

Sheeran is next due to perform on Friday 25 September at Kraft’s Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts.