Ed Sheeran Gillette Stadium Concerts Canceled

Ed Sheeran‘s tour stops at Gillette Stadium have been canceled.

The shows, set to take place on Friday and Saturday nights at the Foxborough, Massachusetts venue, have been axed due to a nor’easter headed up the East Coast.

“Due to the severe weather warnings in place in Boston and across New England throughout the weekend and following consultation with local officials, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Ed Sheeran concerts at Gillette Stadium,” tour promoter Messina Touring Group said in a statement.

“The decision was made with the safety of fans, staff and everyone involved in the shows as the top priority.”

The cancellation comes as Sheeran soldiers on solo with his Loop Tour after opening act Macklemore was dropped from the lineup following criticism of his “Free Palestine” remarks at two Met Life Stadium shows earlier this month. Fellow opening acts Finneas O’Connell, Danish band Lukas Graham, Irish band Beoga and singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe have also left the tour.

Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft was among those who objected to Macklemore’s comments, and he suggested that Macklemore wasn’t welcome at the Foxborough, Massachusetts shows for what Kraft considered “hate speech.” Macklemore also claimed that Kraft rallied other stadium owners and told Sheeran that if the rapper stayed on the tour, Sheeran wouldn’t be allowed to play at their venues.

“Gillette Stadium has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech,” Kraft said in part in a statement released after Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran’s tour and the rapper had indicated the influential New England Patriots owner was involved in the decision. “Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line. This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf. Their pain and loss are real. But that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas, a United States and globally … designated terrorist organization whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

The Wall Street Journal later reported that Kraft and other NFL stadium owners reached out to Messina Touring Group after Macklemore’s first “Free Palestine” remarks at his Sept. 4 MetLife Stadium show and were assured he wouldn’t bring up the issue again. But Macklemore repeated his comments during the second MetLife Stadium show.

Messina Touring Group dropped Macklemore from the tour on Sept. 14, saying venues would not allow the concerts to take place with the rapper on the lineup.

“As the concert promoter for Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Loop Tour, we have been notified by venues on the upcoming U.S. tour dates that they will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, which would result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans,” Messina Touring Group said in its statement announcing Macklemore being dropped from the tour. “After discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates.”