Ed Sheeran's two scheduled concerts at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, are in jeopardy as a massive nor'easter takes aim at New England, according to sources involved in production who spoke with TMZ.com.
The singer was set to perform Friday and Saturday nights at the open-air venue, which is owned by Robert Kraft. However, stage construction was partially assembled Thursday morning before crew members were instructed to pause work by Thursday evening, the sources told TMZ.com, while higher-ups weighed whether to begin tearing the structure down entirely.
The storm is forecast to deliver heavy wind and several inches of rain beginning Friday night — conditions that would be uncomfortable for fans in an open-air stadium and potentially dangerous for the stage itself. A separate stadium source told TMZ.com that everything is ready for Sheeran to perform Friday night except for lighting, which the crew was still testing Thursday night in case the show proceeds.
No final decision has been made, and it remains unclear whether the shows would be rescheduled if they are canceled.
The weather emergency arrives amid an already chaotic week for the Gillette run. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campell said Thursday that nearly 200 people had complained about struggling to obtain refunds from Ticketmaster for Sheeran's shows, prompting her office to step in and demand that Ticketmaster return customers' money. Those complaints were not driven by weather concerns — ticketholders were upset about Macklemore being removed from the tour, according to TMZ.com.
The Massachusetts Peace Action advocacy group, which focuses on ending the Israel-Palestine conflict, had planned to protest the second night of Sheeran's Gillette engagement, TMZ.com previously reported.
The turmoil traces back to Kraft pressuring Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the tour. Macklemore drew criticism for saying "Free Palestine" at an earlier concert stop, apparently disregarding warnings to stop and repeating the phrase a second night. In solidarity with Macklemore, Sheeran's backing band and other openers pulled out, leaving Sheeran and his guitar to perform solo at his last concert in Philadelphia last weekend — the first tour stop after the opener's controversial axing — where he became emotional over the decision.
The weather danger emerged hours after Macklemore took shots at Sheeran and Kraft while announcing his "Free Palestine Tour," a coincidence noted by TMZ.com.
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Ava Hart
Ava Hart is a pop culture junkie and loves to share what's happening in Hollywood and what trends are taking the world by storm.
