Ed Sheeran's Macklemore mess has rocked his public image. PR pros say fans will be more forgiving than you think.

Ed Sheeran kicked off the North American leg of his Loop Tour at Arizona's State Farm Stadium.

Mark Surridge Ed Sheeran is facing backlash after Macklemore was removed from his tour over pro-Palestinian remarks.

Sheeran's first statement wasn't well received, but fans are still attending his tour.

A PR expert and music industry pro both said Sheeran's bottom line is more durable than it appears.

The last time Ed Sheeran played Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field three years ago, he drew a record-breaking crowd of almost 78,000 fans.

When he returned there on Saturday to perform his chart-topping hits, he opened with a speech that felt more suited for an apology tour than a victory lap.

"I've had to take and make difficult decisions, and I am making mistakes, and I'm so so sorry," Sheeran told the crowd before he sang a single note.

The British singer-songwriter, who's enjoyed a relatively scandal-free career thus far, landed at the center of a media firestorm last week when his opener, Macklemore, was removed from Sheeran's Loop Tour for making pro-Palestinian comments onstage at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.

The rapper was dropped from the tour at the behest of Robert Kraft , the billionaire owner of the NFL's New England Patriots, who threatened to cancel Sheeran's tour stop at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, if Macklemore remained on the bill.

Kraft also encouraged other stadium owners in the US to follow his lead.

Suddenly Sheeran, who's known for gooey ballads and boilerplate crowd-pleasers more than bold political views, was forced to make a statement — and it didn't go well.

"Macklemore's contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me," Sheeran told his followers in a bulleted statement on Instagram , concluding that he was "not complicit." The backlash was swift.

Social media users urged each other to boycott Sheeran's music, headlines fussed over falling resale ticket prices for Sheeran's forthcoming shows , and the rest of his tour openers dropped out in solidarity with Macklemore and the Palestinian people.

The blowback was intense enough that speculation began swirling that Sheeran could be forced to cancel the Loop Tour entirely.