New details have emerged about the 40-minute phone call in which New Englands Patriots owner Robert Kraft told Ed Sheeran that he would not host Macklemore at his stadium following his onstage show of support for Palestinian people.
Last week, Kraft was spurred into action after he learned that Macklemore — the rapper best known for his hits “Thrift Shop” and “Same Love” — had given a political speech about Israel’s genocide in Gaza and led the crowd at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in a “free Palestine” chant while opening at Sheeran’s U.S. Loop tour the previous weekend.
The 85-year-old billionaire called up Sheeran, his longtime friend who had even performed at his 2022 wedding, and explained that he and other NFL owners would not allow Macklemore to perform at their venues, according to a new report by the Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, Kraft told the English singer that Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie had aligned in joining him to oust Macklemore. None of the owners have responded to the report.
A person familiar with the conversation told WSJ that “while he felt for the Palestinian people and understood it was a complicated situation, he believed that Macklemore’s comments constituted hate speech—not freedom of speech.”
Kraft told Sheeran that the true aggressor in the Israel-Palestine conflict was Hamas, the militant group responsible for the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. He also pointed out that Macklemore had previously been accused of antisemitism after wearing a costume in 2014 that appeared to feature Jewish stereotypes (Macklemore apologized at the time and said he did not mean any ill intent).
Neither Kraft nor Sheeran have returned The Independent’s requests for comment.
Following the phone call ultimatum, Macklemore announced Monday that he had been dropped from Sheeran’s tour, and said that his discussions with Sheeran have ended in “a place of fundamental disagreement” because of the singer’s apolitical stance.
Sheeran responded that he was “not complicit” in the censorship, insisting that he had no choice in the decision to drop Macklemore from the tour.
Backlash ensued: His four other supporting acts dropped out of the tour in solidarity with Macklemore, hundreds of thousands of people unfollowed Sheeran on Instagram, and public figures from Roger Waters to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out the controversy.
The fallout is expected to reach Sheeran’s next show, scheduled for Saturday in Philadelphia. Pro-Palestinian groups called Philly Palestine Coalition and Shut Down D&Z are organizing joint protests outside of the concert venue, as first reported by TMZ.
In a social media post Wednesday, Macklemore said he wanted to capitalize on the spotlight and donate his $1 million earnings from the tour to organizations working to support the Palestinian people. He challenged Kraft to match the donation.
Kraft then shared a statement saying that after speaking with Sheeran, he planned to match Sheeran’s $2 million pledge for aid in the region. The two men did not specify which organizations they planned to support.
“I have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people,” Kraft said in the statement. “I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting.”
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