Macklemore claimed Monday the Jewish NFL owner Robert Kraft pressured Ed Sheeran to drop him from his tour after pro-Palestinian elements of his show.
The “Thrift Shop” rapper issued a self-aggrandizing statement in which he painted himself as a victim of a conspiracy to silence critics of Israel – claiming Kraft masterminded the whole thing.
“Ed told me Robert Kraft called him,” Macklemore wrote on X Monday. “We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft group. Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium.”
“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,” he added.
Macklemore, 43, had been opening for Sheeran and was scheduled to play eight more shows with him on the US leg of his current tour.
But he landed in hot water last week after making a pro-Palestinian stance and singing with a keffiyeh wrapped around his head.
“I wanted to stand up here on stages across America and say two words that are near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine,” he declared during the show.
Within days he was dropped from the tour, with Sheeran’s promoter explaining the stadiums they were playing said they wouldn’t book him if Macklemore remained on the bill.
Macklemore framed the cancellation as an attempt to “silence” him, arguing people like Kraft and the powers-that-be thought it was “too much of a risk” to let him go on performing with Sheeran.
“What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost there years. So why is it an issue now?” he said in his statement. “Because now I’m sharing the stage with one of the biggest artists in the world.”
“If I kept doing the shows, saying Free Palestine, with Ed implicitly supporting it, the crowd getting loud and showing undeniable support for Palestinian liberation, what artists might speak out next?” he added.
Mackelmore noted Sheeran refused to take a stance on the issue – saying Kraft put him in a “f**ked up situation,” but that Sheeran said the Palestinian comments could be “hurtful to a lot of people.”
He also said Kraft and his cohorts of stadium owners were trying to “weaponize the accusation of antisemitism,” and while Mackelmore acknowledged “antisemitism is real” he said it was used “too much” as a “shield against criticism of the Israeli State.”
“It doesn’t protect Jewish people. It protects Israel from accountability,” Mackelmore said.
Kraft – proudly Jewish – has long been a staunch campaigner against antisemitism.
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He has donated millions to Jewish causes, and started various foundations and advocacy campaigns dedicated to battling antisemitism.
Kraft has also made his support for Israel clear since war broke out between the Jewish state and the Hamas terror group in 2023, with the business tycoon notably pulling financial support from his alma mater — Columbia University — after anti-Israel protests enveloped the campus over the conflict.
