Ed Sheeran’s team are making sure that there is a ‘sizable’ police presence for his next concert in Philadelphia days after Macklemore was dropped off of the tour over a ‘Free Palestine’ speech and the five other openers quit.Sheeran, 35, has been at the center of much vitriol and backlash amid the controversy surrounding his LOOP Tour which has seen a massive drop in ticket prices.The issue began when former opener Macklemore had faced a boycott petition to remove him after he delivered a politically motivated speech in support of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank during his performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on September 4 and 5. Sheeran is set to perform at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday and pro-Palestine protests are planned at the stadium show which will now see a bigger police presence to ensure his safety. Jasmine Reilly, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department told TMZ on Thursday: ‘Our officers are talking to his team to make sure all appropriate measures are taken’ for his safety.She also told the publication that there will be a ‘sizable’ amount of officers who will be at the stadium in the first concert since Macklemore had been booted. Ed Sheeran’s team are making sure that there is a ‘sizable’ police presence for his next concert in Philadelphia days after Macklemore was dropped off of the tour over a ‘Free Palestine’ speech and the five other openers quit (Above, Sheeran performing in Boston in December) A spokesperson for the Philadelphia police department said there will be a ‘sizable’ police presence at Sheeran’s concert in Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday (Above, Philadelphia PD during a protest in September 2024)Law enforcement told the publication that they work closely with the venue and event organizers in order to ensure the safety of concert attendees, employees, and residents in the area.Reilly also said that the police department will monitor the concert and make the necessary adjustments based on the public safety needs.The current plan is to have a small ‘army’ of law enforcement posted both inside and out of the stadium as all attendees will be forced to go through metal detectors and some will have to be patted down.Police told TMZ that there have been no threats made against Sheern as of yet but things could obviously change before Saturday night.Meanwhile, ticket prices for the Shape of You hitmaker have fallen consistently after Macklemore was dropped over his pro-Palestine comments.TicketData reported an 11 percent dip in resale prices since Monday, per TMZ.Sheeran’s LOOP Tour had already been experiencing a steady decline in ticket prices even before Macklemore’s highly publicized exit.’Some softening in the run-up to the show is not atypical for this tour,’ a TicketData representative told the outlet, which reported that ticket prices dropped 22 percent for the previous 17 shows during the two weeks before the calamitous concert. Sheeran ticket prices have fallen consistently after Macklemore was dropped from the tour over his ‘Free Palestine ‘ speech earlier this month. Above, Sheeran in December 2025 performing at iHeartRadio z100’s Jingle Ball in New York City The British singer-songwriter and the American rapper had been friends and collaborators for more than a decade. Above, at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards in New York CityResale ticket prices for Sheeran’s upcoming concert in Philadelphia have dropped 25 percent on secondary resale platforms, according to TicketData.And that, the representative conceded, ‘is clearly pushing the edge of what you’d normally expect.’I think it’s safe to say that any further decline today would be a strong sign that demand, and ticket prices, are falling by a newsworthy amount, at least for that show,’ the representative added.Following the sudden ouster of Macklemore, there has been a mass exodus of supporting talent from Sheeran’s tour.All of the replacement acts and openers who were scheduled have abruptly quit the tour including Billie Eilish’s brother Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga.Macklemore, 43, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, was dropped from the remainder of Sheeran’s LOOP Tour after sparking backlash with his ‘Free Palestine’ speech earlier this month.Several major US venues notified tour promoters they would not allow the Thrift Shop hitmaker to perform on their stages, per Rolling Stone.The drama started when Macklemore used his opening set to chant ‘Free Palestine’ and deliver a politically motivated speech. TicketData reported an 11 percent dip in resale prices since Monday Resale ticket prices for Sheeran’s upcoming concert in Philadelphia have dropped 25 percent on secondary resale platforms since Macklemore’s ouster. Above, Macklemore on August 30 The drama started when Macklemore used his opening set to chant ‘Free Palestine’ and deliver a politically motivated speech. Above, the rapper performing in Paris in May 2024 Macklemore stated that every human being deserves the same freedom, and told the crowd he wanted people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to know they had not been forgotten.He then performed his protest song Hind’s Hall while images of the devastation in Gaza were projected on the big screens at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.Macklemore also faced a boycott petition calling for his removal from Sheeran’s tour for the blunt and direct language he used onstage.He was the opening act for Sheeran’s LOOP Tour on two consecutive nights, September 4 and September 5, at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.Macklemore has also previously voiced support for Palestinians and called out Israel’s conduct in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and has continued doing so for years.As seen in fan-taken footage, he wore a keffiyeh at one point during his set.During his performance, he said he had a message to share with the Palestinian people and wanted them to know ‘they have not been forgotten.’He said: ‘One of the reasons why I wanted to come on this tour was because I wanted to stand up here on stages in stadiums across America and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine. I said, Free Palestine! There has been a mass exodus of supporting talent from Sheeran’s tour since Macklemore’s abrupt exit including Billie Eilish’s brother Finneas. Above, in August 2025’I want those words to be loud and clear so that people from Gaza, all the way to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten them.’Macklemore also added: ‘I believe that every human being walking on this earth deserves exactly the same freedom, to know safety and peace before knowing the sounds of violence.’During his speech, he referred to ICE as a ‘terrorist organization’ before shouting: ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Free Cuba, Congo, Sudan and Iran.’The Israeli-American Council drew up a petition insisting he should be dropped from the remaining dates of Sheeran’s tour.The Daily Mail has reached out to Macklemore’s representatives for comment.It wasn’t known how many signatures the petition collected.The group’s petition read: ‘This was an Ed Sheeran concert – not a political rally, not a protest, and not an activist event. The issue is not whether Macklemore has the right to hold political views.’The question is where the line should be drawn when an opening act uses a global concert platform to advance a one-sided political agenda.’ Pink also weighed in on Macklemore’s recent controversy by reposting an Instagram Story from StopAntisemitism, which slammed Macklemore’s performance. Above, Pink in 2022Fan reaction was split on social media after the two shows, with some defending his onstage war comments as others accused him of anti-Semitic rhetoric.Pink also weighed in on Macklemore’s recent controversy, amid calls from fans for the rapper to be removed from the tour.The singer, 47, reposted an Instagram Story from StopAntisemitism, which slammed Macklemore’s performance.The caption on the post read: ‘Awful – Jewish fans bought tickets to see Ed Sheeran sing last night in NJ, not to be ambushed by Macklemore’s anti-Israel propaganda.’Instead, Macklemore walked onstage in a keffiyeh, shouted ‘Free Palestine,’ accused Israel of a false ‘genocide,’ and turned a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state. Concert-goers are owed apologies and refunds.’The Daily Mail has also reached out to representatives for Pink and Sheeran for comment but has yet to hear back.