{"id":869411,"date":"2026-10-03T13:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T13:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/869411\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T13:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T13:44:14","slug":"zach-bryan-wears-free-palestine-shirt-at-gillette-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/869411\/","title":{"rendered":"Zach Bryan Wears ‘Free Palestine’ Shirt at Gillette Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tGrammy winner Zach Bryan<\/a> took a pointed fashion stance at Gillette Stadium on Friday night (Oct. 2), wearing a black T-shirt reading \u201cFree Palestine<\/a>\u201d during the first of two dates on his With Heaven On Tour at the Foxborough, Mass., venue.<\/p>\n

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\n\tMembers of Bryan\u2019s band were also spotted in matching shirts, according to TMZ<\/a>, with fan footage of the moment quickly circulating on social media. Bryan did not appear to address the shirt from the stage.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe choice of wardrobe \u2014 and venue \u2014 is hard to read as a coincidence. Gillette Stadium is owned by the Kraft Group, led by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft<\/a>, who weeks earlier played a central role in removing Macklemore<\/a> from the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeran<\/a>\u2019s Loop Tour over the rapper\u2019s pro-Palestinian statements onstage.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring his opening sets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sept. 4 and 5, Macklemore declared \u201cFree Palestine\u201d<\/a> to the crowd and performed his 2024 protest song \u201cHind\u2019s Hall.\u201d On the second night, he also spoke directly to Jewish fans in attendance, saying his criticism of the Israeli government was not directed at them.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Israeli-American Council launched a petition calling for his removal, and on Sept. 14 tour promoter Messina Touring Group confirmed Macklemore<\/a> would no longer appear on the remaining U.S. dates after multiple NFL stadium owners reportedly threatened to pull shows if he stayed on the bill.<\/p>\n

\n\tKraft confirmed his involvement in a statement that same day, saying he felt a responsibility to speak up when he believed a line had been crossed on antisemitism, while acknowledging that Palestinian suffering is real. <\/p>\n

\n\tSheeran said in his own statement the following day that the removal was the promoter\u2019s decision, not his, and that he had spoken directly with Kraft while trying to find a resolution.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe fallout was swift. Fellow openers Finneas, Aaron Rowe and Lukas Graham<\/a> exited the tour in solidarity, as did Irish folk band Beoga, who had been performing with Sheeran, while Macklemore responded with a lengthy Instagram post detailing the money, brand deals, festivals and private shows he says his advocacy has cost him. <\/p>\n

\n\tHe later pledged $1 million from his touring earnings to Palestinian aid organizations and announced a Free Palestine Tour<\/a> \u2014 a short European run hitting Dublin, Paris and London from Oct. 26 to 30 \u2014 which he has since said sold out immediately.<\/p>\n

\n\tSheeran never made it to Foxborough in the end: his two Gillette Stadium dates last weekend were scrapped due to severe weather<\/a> conditions \u2014 despite the tour having bowed to the venue owners\u2019 demands.<\/p>\n

\n\tBryan has rarely shied away from friction with powerful figures. In October 2025, a teaser of his song \u201cBad News\u201d \u2014 which references ICE raids \u2014 drew public criticism from the Department of Homeland Security and the White House, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem saying at the time that she was disappointed by the clip. Bryan pushed back at the time, arguing that the song spoke to both sides of the aisle and urging fans not to let social media narratives divide them. The track ultimately appeared on his album With Heaven on Top, released Jan. 9, 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tBryan is scheduled to return to Gillette Stadium for the second night of his Foxborough stand on Saturday (Oct. 3) \u2014 and all eyes will be on whether the shirt makes a repeat appearance, and whether Kraft, who has yet to publicly respond, takes any action. Representatives for Kraft did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grammy winner Zach Bryan took a pointed fashion stance at Gillette Stadium on Friday night (Oct. 2), wearing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[24229,88,5618,357624,2485,24143,67545],"class_list":["post-869411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ed-sheeran","tag-entertainment","tag-gaza","tag-macklemore","tag-palestine","tag-robert-kraft","tag-zach-bryan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}