Macklemore says Patriots’ Robert Kraft banned him from stadium over Palestine stance

Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and their stadium, has successfully had Macklemore removed from pop star Ed Sheeran's concert tour. The Grammy Award-winning rapper made the revelation himself on Monday, Sept. 14, and Kraft later confirmed it.

Macklemore posted to Instagram that Kraft leaned on Sheeran, one of the world's top-selling musicians, to remove Macklemore from his lineup due to the "Free Palestine" position Macklemore expressed earlier this month. Sheeran's "Loop Tour 2026" is scheduled to play at Gillette Stadium, which is owned by Kraft Group, on Sept. 25 and 26 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Macklemore, who shared his pro-Palestinian sentiments over Labor Day weekend in two separate shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just outside New York City, will no longer be invited to perform on the tour.

Per Macklemore, Kraft, who is Jewish, contacted Sheeran and told him "that Kraft said (Macklemore) would not be allowed to perform in his stadium.

“Ed 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.”

Messina Touring Group, which is…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/