Aaron Rowe Calls Ed Sheeran Controversy a 'Circus' During Toronto Concert

Aaron Rowe has shared more thoughts on the Ed Sheeran situation.

The Irish singer-songwriter played a sold-out headline show at Toronto's Drake Underground yesterday (Sept. 22) as part of his North American headline tour and took a moment to address the controversy surrounding Ed Sheeran's Loop tour, from which he dropped out last week, along with all of his fellow supporting acts.

As reported by The Globe & Mail, the singer took a moment halfway through his concert to tell the audience that they should "probably talk about what happened during the week," before talking about the current situation in Palestine.

He said the "genocide needs to be stopped." He called the media discourse around Sheeran a "circus," and said "those people at the top" must be very happy about all the controversy stemming from just a "few gigs."

His live speech echoed a recent statement he posted to Instagram last Friday (Sept. 18), stressing that the widespread criticism of Sheeran should instead be directed towards executives like Kraft who are making these broader decisions. He also defended Sheeran, who he believes "knows that [it] was a mistake" to drop Macklemore.

“You should be using this opportunity to plaster Robert Kraft’s face everywhere, someone who tried to shut down free speech, someone who tried to silence the voices of people who are shouting out genocide,” Rowe said in the video.

At the Drake Underground, the signer-songwriter doubled down on his support for Palestine and links it to his home country's own history, citing the Great Famine. It echoes his earlier Instagram statement announcing his withdrawal from the Loop tour, in which he explained that the Irish people know "all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation."

The controversy began when Macklemore delivered a speech during his first night opening for Ed Sheeran in New Jersey on Sept. 4, calling to "Free Palestine" and then performing his protest anthem "Hind's Hall." The situation ballooned after Pink called out Macklemore for his comments online and Gilette Stadium owner Robert Kraft reportedly gave Sheeran an ultimatum to remove the rapper from his tour.

After both Macklemore and Sheeran confirmed his removal from the tour, Rowe joined fellow openers Finneas and Lukas Graham and Sheeran's backing band Beoga in removing themselves. Several other artists voiced their solidarity with Macklemore, including Canadians like Cœur de pirate, Nemahsis and bbno$, who posted an open call to host a charity concert.

Since pulling out from Ed Sheeran's tour, Rowe has rejoined fellow Irishman and singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy's North American tour for an additional run of shows in October, some replacing the dates he was previously booked for on Sheeran's tour. Fellow opener Lukas Graham also announced a new North American headline tour set for 2027 today, which will make a stop at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall on April 6.

Sheeran played his first show without supporting acts in Philadelphia on Saturday (Sept. 19), where he addressed the controversy and then apologized for his highly scrutinized statement. "This week, the criticism was about something much more important, and I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I’m so, so sorry," he said.

Aaron Rowe concludes his North American tour tonight (Sept. 23) at Rumba Café in Columbus, Ohio.