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Macklemore performs at Rolling Stone Future of Music held at ACL Live at the Moody Theater on March 17, 2023 in Austin, Texas.
Touring
Robert Kraft Calls Macklemore’s ‘Free Palestine’ Statements ‘Deeply Offensive’: ‘A Line Had Been Crossed’
The Gillette Stadium owner released a statement explaining why he helped lead the call for the rapper's removal from Ed Sheeran's U.S. tour.
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Robert Kraft, the powerhouse businessman who owns and operates Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., has released a statement regarding the ouster of Macklemore from Ed Sheeran‘s tour over what he calls Macklemore’s “deeply offensive and hurtful” statements “to the Jewish community.”
On Monday (Sept. 14), Messina Touring Group, the promoter for Sheeran’s Loop Tour, reported that Macklemore had been booted from his role on the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s current tour after a group of NFL venues, including Kraft’s Gillette Stadium, informed the company that they would not allow the concerts to take place due to Macklemore’s “free Palestine” comments during a show at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
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During the MetLife concert, Macklemore’s first show on the tour, the rapper said from the stage, “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine. I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them.”
On Monday, in the wake of the news that he’ had’d been removed from the tour, Macklemore released a statement claiming that Sheeran had been given an ultimatum by Kraft and other NFL stadium owners who informed him that they would not allow the tour to stop at their venues if Macklemore remained on the bill. “Ed was in a f–ked up position,” Macklemore wrote. “He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with. I told him that if those words were more offensive than tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood.”
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In his own statement, Kraft wrote, “Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.”
He added that while the decision was “not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf,” he felt “a line had been crossed” by Macklemore. “Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering, but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate,” he wrote, adding, “Standing with the Palestinian people and standing against Hamas, antisemitism and hate should not be mutually exclusive.”
Macklemore has been one of the most vocal artists advocating on behalf of the Palestinian people in recent years. In 2024, he released the protest song “Hind’s Hall” — which he performed at Sheeran’s MetLife show earlier this month — in which he raps in part, ““Where does genocide land in your definition, huh/ Destroyin’ every college in Gaza and every mosque/ Pushin’ everyone into Rafah and droppin’ bombs … We see the lies in ’em/ Claimin’ it’s antisemitic to be anti-Zionist/ I’ve seen Jewish brothers and sisters out there and ridin’ in/ Solidarity and screamin’ free Palestine with them.”
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Kraft isn’t the first to hit back at Macklemore’s statements. Following the Sept. 4 MetLife show, the Israeli-American Council published a petition calling for the removal of Macklemore from the rest of the tour. Pink, who is Jewish, later reshared a post criticizing Macklemore and calling for his removal and later expressed her reasoning following criticism of her stance. “Last weekend [Macklemore] stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them,” she wrote on Instagram. “You don’t get to decide that for us.”
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“That’s what prompted my repost,” she continued. “Not ‘Free Palestine,’ and not anyone’s right to say it. I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now.”
Sheeran is next slated to perform at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sept. 19 with openers Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe, who were Macklemore’s co-openers. He then moves to Gillette Stadium for two nights (Sept. 25-26), followed by stints at several more stadiums, including Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., and Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
You can read Kraft’s full statement below.
Gillette Stadium has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech. Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.
This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf. Their pain and loss are real. But that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas, a United States and globally (including Canada, European Union, United Kingdom, and Japan) designated terrorist organization whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering for Palestinians and Israelis alike. I agree with Macklemore. Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering, but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate. Over many decades, I have directed resources to Palestine and created athletic and entrepreneurial opportunities for Palestinians who I admire and respect. Standing with the Palestinian people and standing against Hamas, antisemitism and hate should not be mutually exclusive.
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Much of my time and attention for the last decade has been focused on the fight against antisemitism and hate of all kinds, and I feel a responsibility to stand up when I believe that line has been crossed. I have tremendous respect for Ed and his music, particularly his unique ability to bring people together and spread joy, and I have always been proud to welcome him and his fans to Gillette Stadium.
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I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same – peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate.” – Robert Kraft
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