Ed Sheeran took to the stage in NYC to perform a charity gig last month, at the height of his Macklemore pro-Palestine drama.
In September, the Thinking Out Loud hitmaker, 35, hit headlines when rapper Macklemore was dropped as a support act from his Loop tour over pro-Palestine comments he made during support slots at Ed's New Jersey shows.
After Macklemore was dropped, all of Ed's opening acts – Finneas, Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe, as well as his backing band Beoga – announced they would be leaving the tour in solidarity with the rapper and Palestine.
Despite weathering the drama, the philanthropic star attended the charity event thrown in honour of Ipswich Town Chairman and CEO Mark Ashton's Lentonbrook Foundation, which was hosted by former Ipswich Town captain Matt Holland.
Lentonbrook Foundation supports charities and community organisations providing for underprivileged children and young people across Suffolk.
Of the event, Mark said: 'Raising $1 million in one evening is an incredible achievement, and I'm hugely grateful to Ed, our guests and everyone who helped make it happen.
Ed Sheeran took to the stage in NYC to perform a charity gig last month, at the height of his Macklemore pro-Palestine drama
'While the event took place in New York, Suffolk was at the heart of it. We're incredibly proud to be bringing significant new funding into the county, with every dollar dedicated to helping children and young people in our communities.
'There are so many brilliant local organisations doing vital work, and this generosity will help them reach more young people, create new opportunities and make a lasting difference.'
Shortly before the Lentonbrook fundraiser, Ed caused ructions when he took to the stage at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to apologise for Macklemore's dismissal, leading critics to accuse him of 'bowing to the mob'.
At the Philadelphia gig, Ed addressed the backlash telling 50,000 fans at his concert: 'The last week of my life has been one of the worst weeks of my life.'
He added though that he was heartened by the fans who had come out to support him, telling them 'today has been one of the weirdest days of my life. Tonight has been honestly the best show of my life, the best show.
In September, the Thinking Out Loud hitmaker, 35, hit headlines when rapper Macklemore was dropped as a support act from his Loop tour over pro-Palestine comments he made during support slots at Ed's New Jersey shows
'I really didn’t know whether this tour would be carrying on. I really didn’t know whether I’d even be getting on stage again, whether I even wanted to be an artist at all. In these situations, you really find out who your friends are, and it’s been a weird week.'
The singer has been accused of 'bowing to the mob' after he apologised to fans at the start of the gig, by reading a statement from an autocue.
He backtracked on his vow not to bring politics to his show, as he called the situation in Gaza 'catastrophic and unjustifiable' and Hamas's October 7 attacks 'horrific'.
Piers Morgan commented: 'I agree with Ed Sheeran's overview of the Israel/Hamas war (Oct 7 terrible, Israel response disproportionate) but I wish he hadn't bowed to the mob and felt forced to say it publicly...
'Especially reading it off an autocue like some bullied puppet. He needs better advisors.'
Many agreed with Morgan, with one supporter posting: 'His PR people need to be fired. No reason for him to have to speak to that outside of a very small mob of loudmouths.'
Of the event, Mark said: 'Raising $1 million in one evening is an incredible achievement, and I'm hugely grateful to Ed, our guests and everyone who helped make it happen'
'This dude simply wants to play and perform and has done so for years. He's a bigger idiot than he was last week. What a disgrace to bow to the mob.'
Another X poster said that Ed's use of a teleprompter 'is not proof he doesn't care'.
'Ed is a singer. Not a politician. Not a news anchor. He does not spend his life rehearsing talking points on the most loaded conflict on the planet,' the comment continued.
'Asking him to speak off-the-cuff about Israel and Gaza in front of 50,000 people after a week that blew up his tour is not the same as asking him to sing "Castle on the Hill". Using a teleprompter here is not proof he doesn't care. It's proof he was scared of getting the words wrong on something this radioactive. There is a difference.'
'He just needs to be strong and say "No I'm not getting bullied and dragged in by any side". He can walk away from this all and still have his music,' agreed another.
'To be fair, he was never going to "win" this regardless. What is shameful is that his "guest" on tour and band threw him under the bus,' said one more.
On stage, Sheeran said he had been convinced to continue with his tour after he saw an uptick in ticket sales, telling the crowd: 'Everyone's telling me to cancel and I'm feeling all of my friends and family and people I know abandon me – and I look at the end of the week, and I see 50,000 people who haven't abandoned me.'