Pop star Ed Sheeran apologised on Saturday for his handling of a controversy that erupted this week when rapper Macklemore was removed as an opening act over comments on Palestine.

Breaking his silence on the issue, the British singer decried Israel’s treatment of residents in Gaza as “unjustifiable.”

“I’ve had to take and make difficult decisions and I am making mistakes and I’m so, so sorry,” Sheeran told an audience in Philadelphia, where he performed for the first time since Macklemore was taken off the concert tour.

At the start of the concert at Lincoln Financial Field, Sheeran called the October 2023 Hamas attack that killed around 1,200 Israelis “horrific.” He also called Israel’s subsequent invasion, which has killed thousands in Gaza and displaced almost all of the population, “catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate.”

Sheeran also decried “systemic injustice” in the West Bank, where Israel’s right-wing coalition government has allowed a massive expansion of Jewish settlements.

The pop star’s opening statement on Saturday offered a stark change from his statements earlier in the week, when Sheeran posted on Instagram that his concert audiences “do not expect a political forum”.

Controversy has surrounded Sheeran since Macklemore posted on Instagram that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had told Sheeran that Macklemore would not be allowed to perform at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Sheeran has shows on September 25 and 26.

Macklemore said Kraft and other stadium owners had told Sheeran he would not be allowed to perform in their venues if Macklemore remained on the tour after saying “Free Palestine” during a September 4 concert at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The tour’s other supporting acts subsequently quit to show solidarity with Macklemore.

Despite acceding to stadium owners’ demand for Macklemore’s removal, Sheeran on Saturday said he was “deeply worried” about concert venues vetting performers’ content. “This happens in so many places that I perform around the world, but it should never happen in the free world,” Sheeran said.

The controversy, however, did not matter to people who spoke to Reuters on Saturday before Sheeran took to the stage.

Joy VanRuler, a 55-year-old teacher from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, said she supports both artists.

“It doesn’t need to be political,” VanRuler said in an interview outside the stadium in Philadelphia. “It’s about the music, and we support both of them and it’s all good.”

Macklemore “shouldn’t have talked about politics,” said Javier Hernandez, a 62-year-old designer from Allentown, Pennsylvania, whose daughter invited him to the concert.

“It gives the people an opportunity to raise their voices and just make a mess of the whole situation. He should have just left it alone.”

Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered about half a mile from the concert venue ahead of Sheeran’s performance. Organisers said they were there to talk to people about the conditions on the ground in Gaza and to highlight local groups advocating for Palestinians.