Lexie H

Everyone is focused on what buzzwords Ed Sheeran used to describe the Israeli Palestinian conflict. For what it’s worth, I think his statement was nuanced and reflected actual thought, as well as his signature empathy. But what struck me 100x more was his statement at the end of the concert. He’s not reading from a script. He’s speaking from the heart, about what’s actually most important to him, the thing that actually drives him as an artist. Love. Love for his fans, for his craft, for music’s ability to bring people together who come from different backgrounds and don’t agree on a thing. He speaks about how many people urged him to cancel his show. But he wouldn’t, because he knows behind every ticket is a fan, a family, and a story of travelling to see a show. For me, this speech made his words about the victims of the Nova Festival on October 7th, which he spoke about at the beginning of the show, that much more powerful. He also touched on his relief that the event went on safely, calling America “a dangerous place.” It's a heartbreaking sentence. After the week Sheeran had, for him, it's true. When people are sending you death threats every minute, appearing in front of 50k people isn’t capitulation. It’s courage. For all the accusations that Sheeran didn’t know what to say, he seems remarkably clear-eyed about the things that actually matter.