Macklemore has been dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour after he says New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft organized a boycott among stadium owners over the rapper’s remarks in support of Palestinians.
The “Thrift Shop” rapper posted a lengthy statement to his Instagram on Monday alleging that Sheeran was called by Kraft to inform the singer Macklemore was not welcome at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Sheeran’s tour was scheduled to play at the venue, which is owned by Kraft Entertainment + Sports Group.
“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,” Macklemore wrote.
The decision was reached after comments made by Macklemore at the tour’s New Jersey shows and “a broader history of rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community,” Kraft said in a statement provided to NBC News on Monday.
Gillette Stadium seeks to create a “welcoming environment for all guests,” he added.
“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,” Kraft said.
He added that the decision was not about trying to stifle Palestinian advocacy or diminishing the suffering of Palestinians. Kraft blamed Hamas, which the United States, Israel and the European Union have designated as a terrorist organization, for the actions that “have caused immeasurable suffering for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
“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 said.
Kraft, who is Jewish, created the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism in 2019 and is a longtime supporter of Israel. There is a page dedicated to his Israel-related philanthropic efforts on the Kraft Group’s site.
“The Kraft family has supported and launched numerous programs that create a connection to Israel and Jewish life,” the site said. “Their commitment has helped build a robust economic relationship between Boston and Israel, the results of which have created jobs and fostered technological innovations in both communities.”
Macklemore added that Sheeran, whom he described as a friend, was in a “f---ed up position.” The two have had “difficult” conversations over the past week, according to Macklemore, that ended in a place of “fundamental disagreement.”
“He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flags were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with,” Macklemore wrote. “I told him that if those words were more offensive than the 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.”
According to Macklemore’s account, Sheeran was not able to get past his desire to remain an apolitical public figure.
Ms. Rachel, the wildly popular children’s content creator whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, criticized Sheeran. She wrote on Instagram that the “Thinking Out Loud” singer had an opportunity to show “that we won’t be bullied” into punishing people who support Palestinians.
“Instead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows,” Accurso wrote. “A genocide is happening in Gaza. We all need to speak out against it.”
A United Nations commission said that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in findings from an independent inquiry published last year. Israeli government officials have denied the allegations, calling them “distorted and false.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said on X that it was “incredibly disappointing” to see her constituent removed from the tour because of his support for Palestinians.
“We should all be outraged that powerful people are more upset about what an artist says than the displacement, starvation, and killing of innocent Palestinian children and families,” Jayapal said. “Thank you, Macklemore, for speaking up.”
Macklemore has been deeply outspoken about social and political issues throughout his career, releasing the 2012 song “Same Love” in support of same-sex marriage three years before it was legalized in a Supreme Court decision. He released a song called “Hind’s Hall” in 2024, referring to an anti-war protest at Columbia University in which students took over a building and renamed it in honor of a Palestinian child who was killed after being trapped in a car by Israeli fire in Gaza.
“The problem isn’t the protests, it’s what they’re protesting,” the song lyrics say. “It goes against what our country is funding.”
He performed the song while opening for Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month. According to video posted by Macklemore, he told the crowd that part of why he wanted to be on the tour was to be able to be in stadiums to say “Free Palestine.”
The clip of Macklemore drew controversy and criticism, including from fellow artist Pink, who identifies as Jewish. She put out a statement Friday explaining why she reposted a social media post critical of Macklemore’s performance.
She wrote that she was not trying to get any artist fired or silence anyone, but she took issue with Macklemore putting “violent images” of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza up in a stadium filled with families and then telling Jews in the audience that “it wasn’t about them.”
“You don’t get to decide that for us,” she wrote Friday. “That’s what prompted my repost. Not ‘Free Palestine,’ and not anyone’s right to say it.”
Representatives for Pink and Sheeran did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. The company working on Sheeran’s tour, Messina Touring Group, told Rolling Stone on Monday that it was informed that multiple venues “will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.”
Cancellations would “impact hundreds of thousands of fans,” the statement said, confirming that Macklemore would no longer perform on his previously scheduled dates.
Macklemore told his followers that he is not a victim, nor are Pink or Sheeran. He wrote that the victims are the Palestinian people who have been “forced to live through unimaginable violence.”
He also said he understood why many people do not take a side, but pointed out that he has been outspoken in his position for three years prior to the tour. The decision to remain outspoken about the Gaza war has become something Macklemore said he considers a duty.
“An entire people being displaced, starved, and killed while the world debates which words we allowed to use to describe it, how those words make us feel, and whether our discomfort matters ore than the people living through a genocide,” he wrote.
Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage, prompting a multiyear military offensive by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
More than 73,000 people in Gaza have died as a result of Israel’s military campaign in the enclave, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. That includes at least 1,273 people killed in Gaza since a fragile ceasefire took effect in October, according to the ministry.
