JTA
Robert Kraft pushes Ed Sheeran to drop Macklemore from tour following ‘Free Palestine’ controversy
Andrew Lapin
September 14, 2026

Robert Kraft, the Jewish and pro-Israel billionaire, took credit Monday for helping to pressure Ed Sheeran to drop pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore from his tour. Kraft, who owns one of the stadiums where Macklemore was scheduled to perform, confirmed the rapper’s own account of the businessman’s involvement in a statement shared with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency “Gillette Stadium has a longstanding commitment to providing a welcoming environment for all guests and ensuring that events held at our venue do not provide a platform for hate speech,” Kraft said READ MORE

DAILY WIRE Every Band Touring With Ed Sheeran Just Rage Quit To Back Antisemite Ed Sheeran’s “The Loop” North American tour is facing further shake-ups as all his remaining support acts have quit in solidarity with rapper Macklemore.
Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe was the first to exit, sharing his decision in an Instagram post on Tuesday — in which he echoed Macklemore’s call to “free Palestine” and invoked his Irish heritage as the reason he could not ignore “genocide” and “violent occupation” happening elsewhere.

ALGEMEINER After Ed Sheeran Tour Ouster, Macklemore Pledges $1 Million to Gaza Aid Groups With Terror Ties, Watchdog Says Macklemore has pledged $1 million from his earnings on Ed Sheeran’s tour to six aid groups supporting Palestinians, including three with Hamas and other terrorist ties, the Jerusalem-based watchdog NGO Monitor said Thursday, amid a public feud over the rapper’s ouster from the tour.

FREE PRESS Robert Kraft Made Macklemore a Martyr Kraft and his fellow team owners were well-intentioned, and perfectly entitled to ban a musician from the stadiums they privately own. But is the move really serving the fight against antisemitism? To many observers, it looks like Macklemore is being banned for his politics, rather than over bigotry—which makes Kraft and his fellow owners appear less than friendly to free speech…It doesn’t help that some of the owners have been perfectly willing to host another rapper, one with a much more disturbing history of Jew-hate. Kanye West has a track record of naked, straightforward antisemitism—lest we forget, he released a song that was literally called “Heil Hitler.”