Macklemore says Robert Kraft's pressure campaign got him dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour

Macklemore says he was pulled from the remainder of Ed Sheeran's US stadium tour after New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft pressured Sheeran to remove him from the lineup, following the rapper's onstage calls for a "free Palestine."

The Seattle rapper detailed the allegation in a lengthy statement posted to Instagram on Monday, shortly after Rolling Stone first reported his removal from the tour.

According to Macklemore, Sheeran told him that Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, said the rapper would not be allowed to perform there, and had rallied other stadium owners into giving Sheeran an ultimatum: drop Macklemore, or lose access to their venues.


"Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium," Macklemore wrote, adding that Kraft had "rallied some of the other stadium owners" to present a collective threat. Macklemore also said Sheeran had described the words "Free Palestine" and the imagery of the Palestinian flag as hurtful to people he had spoken with, and wrote that Sheeran had been placed in an extremely difficult position by the fallout.

What the tour's promoter has said

Macklemore's account echoed an earlier statement from Messina Touring Group, promoter of the US leg of Sheeran's "Loop" tour, which did not name Kraft or any specific venue owner.

The company said it had been notified by venues on upcoming tour dates that they would not permit a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup, warning that continuing to include him risked cancelling the tour entirely and affecting hundreds of thousands of fans. Representatives for Sheeran and most of the venues involved did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Sheeran has not publicly addressed the decision.

Other outlets have reported that Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, owned by NFL owner David Tepper, was also among the venues that raised objections, alongside Gillette Stadium.

What sparked the backlash

The controversy followed two shows Macklemore played as an opener on Sheeran's tour at MetLife Stadium outside New York City in early September. At the first show, Macklemore called out "Free Palestine," expressed solidarity with people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, displayed images of the devastation in Gaza, and performed his protest song "Hind's Hall," which references pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University.

The remarks drew sharp criticism from pro-Israel groups, with the Israeli American Council launching a petition demanding Sheeran remove Macklemore from the rest of the tour. The tour is continuing without him, with its next scheduled stop in Philadelphia.

Kraft's record on Jewish advocacy causes

Kraft, who is Jewish, has long been a prominent supporter of Israel and Jewish causes, having donated millions of dollars to related organisations over the years and organised numerous trips to Israel for current and former NFL players.

He founded the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism in 2019, and in 2025 launched the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, an initiative aimed at encouraging Americans to stand up against antisemitism and hate more broadly.

Sheeran has previously appeared in Blue Square Alliance material wearing a small blue square pinned to his guitar strap, an initiative Kraft's group uses to signify solidarity against antisemitism.