Macklemore has been dropped from Ed Sheeran\u2019s tour after he says New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft organized a boycott among stadium owners over the rapper\u2019s remarks in support of Palestinians. <\/p>\n
The \u201cThrift Shop\u201d 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\u2019s tour was scheduled to play at the venue, which is owned by Kraft Entertainment + Sports Group. <\/p>\n
\u201cEd 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,\u201d Macklemore wrote. <\/p>\n
The decision was reached after comments made by Macklemore at the tour\u2019s New Jersey shows and \u201ca broader history of rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community,\u201d Kraft said in a statement provided to NBC News on Monday. <\/p>\n
Gillette Stadium seeks to create a \u201cwelcoming environment for all guests,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same \u2014 peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate,\u201d Kraft said. <\/p>\n
He added that 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 \u201chave caused immeasurable suffering f<\/a>or Palestinians and Israelis alike.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cMuch 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,\u201d Kraft said. <\/p>\n 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<\/a> on the Kraft Group\u2019s site.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Kraft family has supported and launched numerous programs that create a connection to Israel and Jewish life,\u201d the site said. \u201cTheir 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Macklemore added that Sheeran, who he described as a friend, was in a \u201cf—ed up position.\u201d The two have had \u201cdifficult\u201d conversations over the past week, according to Macklemore, that ended in a place of \u201cfundamental disagreement.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cHe told me that the words \u2018Free Palestine\u2019 and the image of the Palestinian flags were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with,\u201d Macklemore wrote. \u201cI told him that if those words were more offensive than the tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel,<\/a> then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood.\u201d <\/p>\n According to Macklemore\u2019s account, Sheeran was not able to get past his desire to remain an apolitical public figure. <\/p>\n Ms. Rachel, the wildly popular children\u2019s content creator whose real name is Rachel Griffin Accurso, criticized Sheeran. She wrote in an Instagram post<\/a> that the \u201cThinking Out Loud\u201d singer had an opportunity to show \u201cthat we won\u2019t be bullied\u201d into punishing people who support Palestinians. <\/p>\n \u201cInstead he caved to people who refuse to accept what the world knows,\u201d Accurso wrote. \u201cA genocide is happening in Gaza. We all need to speak out against it.\u201d<\/p>\n A United Nations commission said that Israel is committing genocide is Gaza in findings from an independent inquiry published last year<\/a>. Israeli government officials have denied the allegations, calling them \u201cdistorted and false.\u201d <\/p>\n Macklemore has been deeply outspoken about social and political issues throughout his career, releasing the 2012 song \u201cSame Love\u201d in support of same-sex marriage three years before it was legalized in a Supreme Court decision. He released a song called \u201cHind\u2019s Hall\u201d in 2024<\/a>, referencing an anti-war protest at Columbia University in which students took over a building and renamed in honor of a Palestinian child<\/a> who was killed after being trapped in a car by Israeli fire in Gaza. <\/p>\n \u201cThe problem isn\u2019t the protests, it\u2019s what they\u2019re protesting,\u201d the song lyrics say. \u201cIt goes against what our country is funding.\u201d <\/p>\n 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 \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d <\/p>\n The clip of Macklemore drew controversy and criticism, including from fellow artist Pink, who identifies as Jewish. She put out a statement Friday<\/a> explaining why she reposted a social media post critical of Macklemore\u2019s performance. <\/p>\n She wrote that she was not trying to get any artist fired or silence anyone, but she took issue with Macklemore putting \u201cviolent images\u201d of Israel\u2019s military campaign in Gaza up in a stadium filled with families and then telling Jews in the audience that \u201cit wasn\u2019t about them.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get to decide that for us,\u201d she wrote Friday. \u201cThat\u2019s what prompted my repost. Not \u2018Free Palestine,\u2019 and not anyone\u2019s right to say it.\u201d <\/p>\n Representatives for Pink and Sheeran did not immediately responded to requests for comment Monday. The company working on Sheeran\u2019s tour, Messina Touring Group, told Rolling Stone on Monday<\/a> that it was informed that multiple venues \u201cwill not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.\u201d <\/p>\n Cancellations would \u201cimpact hundreds of thousands of fans,\u201d the statement said, confirming that Macklemore would no longer perform on his previously scheduled dates. <\/p>\n Macklemore told his followers that he is not a victim, nor are Pink or Sheeran. He wrote that the victims are the Palestinian people<\/a> who have been \u201cforced to live through unimaginable violence.\u201d <\/p>\n 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 <\/a>has become something Macklemore said he considers a duty.<\/p>\n \u201cAn entire people being displaced<\/a>, 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,\u201d <\/a>he wrote. <\/p>\n Hamas-led attacks<\/a> on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023,<\/a> killed about 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage, <\/a>prompting a multiyear military offensive by Israel in the Gaza Strip. <\/p>\n More than 73,000 people in Gaza have died as a result of Israel\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n