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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft during a trip to Israel in 2017.
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When Macklemore opened for Ed Sheeran during a tour stop at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, he stood before the crowd and chanted two words that are near and dear to his 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,” he continued.
During the following night’s show, Macklemore said the words again. He then took a moment to address the Jewish fans in the audience: “Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you,” he explained. “My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality.”
Nevertheless, Macklemore’s show of solidarity drew backlash from supporters of Israel, including pop star Pink. Within a matter of days, Macklemore had been pulled from the remainder of Sheeran’s tour.
The American rapper posted a statement on Instagram Monday alleging that Sheeran was called by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to inform the singer Macklemore was not welcome at Gillette Stadium, which is owned by the Kraft Group.
“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” Macklemore wrote. “Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”
Besides MetLife and Gillette Stadiums, Macklemore was supposed to open for Sheeran at several other stadiums owned or affiliated with the NFL, including Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and LSoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Shortly thereafter, Kraft released his own statement confirming Macklemore’s announcement. He said the decision was reached after the rapper’s “Free Palestine’ cry during the New Jersey show, as well as “a broader history of rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”
“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,” Kraft continued, adding that that the decision was not about trying to stifle Palestinian advocacy or diminishing the suffering of Palestinians.
Kraft, who is Jewish, has long maintained a strong connection to Israel. He founded the Kraft Family Sports Campus and has donated millions to support the development of American football in Israel. He also personally led three different missions to Israel with former Patriots players and Hall of Famers to “absorb the Holy Land’s offerings.” The trips also included visits to IDF military bases with players such as Tom Brady.
For his years of service to Israel, Kraft received the $1 million Genesis Prize in Jerusalem in 2019. During the ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised him by saying: “Israel does not have a more loyal friend than Robert Kraft.”
Tom Brady and Robert Kraft pictured with IDF soldier at his base
Kraft’s decision to blackball Macklemore is hardly surprising. The American rapper is one of the most vocal celebrities in support of Palestine. Macklemore has also been vocal about other global injustices. In 2024, he canceled a show in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates’ role in the deadly conflict in Sudan. “Until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF I will not perform there,” he said in a post on Instagram at the time.
Nevertheless, it has been years since the NFL’s powerful billionaires have banded together to banish a specific artist or athlete. The last target was Colin Kaepernick, the quarterback who kneeled during the U.S. national anthem at the start of NFL games in protest of police brutality and racial inequality in the U.S.. He became a free agent and was not signed to any team, which led to him filing a grievance accusing the NFL and its owners of colluding to keep him out of the league. He withdrew the grievance after reaching a confidential settlement with the NFL in 2019.
The fact that Macklemore’s statement is the only other incident in recent memory to draw such a response from the NFL’s powerful owners reveals the extent to which billionaires will go to suppress solidarity with Palestine. It is worth noting that a significant portion of American Jews and Israelis have expressed concern with the Free Palestine slogan, arguing that it could imply the removal of the State of Israel, and that it was also the cry uttered by the gunman who killed two employees at Israel’s U.S. embassy in 2025.
However, the idea that NFL leaders took a stand against antisemitism is laughable. Earlier this year, Kanye West performed at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and Raymond James Stadium despite his history of antisemitic statements. He once told Alex Jones that he idolized Hitler and the Nazi regime. He even sold merchandise with swastikas emblazoned on them.
Where was the NFL’s outrage when Kanye performed? Is showing solidarity with Palestine really worse than supporting actual Nazis?
Even after nearly three years of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank, there remains a concerted effort to conflate Palestinian solidarity with antisemitism. Much of it is entirely in bad faith, with the intention of presenting chants of Free Palestine and even the Palestinian flag as inherently antisemetic.
For example, when FC Barcelona defeated Real Madrid to win the La Liga title in May, Lamine Yamal—the team’s teenage sensation with roots in Morocco and Equatorial Guinea—raised a Palestinian flag during a celebration parade to cheers from the crowd in attendance.His gesture drew a visceral response from Israeli defence minister Israel Katz, who accused Yamal of inciting hatred against Israel and the Jewish people. Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez, one of Europe’s staunchest critics of Israel, responded shortly thereafter, insisting that “those who consider waving the flag of a State to be “inciting hatred” have either lost their judgment or been blinded by their own ignominy.”
When Macklemore chanted Free Palestine at the MetLife Stadium, he did not do so to spread hatred. In fact, he took the time to speak directly to his Jewish fans in the audience with the hopes of making it clear that he was not criticizing them. Instead, he chanted the slogan to raise awareness about an ongoing genocide—a stain on an already-tainted humanity—and as a reminder of the tens of thousands of children who continue to suffer in Gaza.
As Macklemore said in his statement on Monday: “I want to make sure…we don’t lose sight of that.”
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