Robert Kraft is trending because of his role in having Macklemore removed as an opening act for Ed Sheeran, amid a dispute over the rapper’s comments supporting Palestinians. Kraft said he had Macklemore removed from Sheeran’s shows at Gillette Stadium, citing in part what he described as a history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery. He said he would not provide a platform for “hate speech.”
The controversy has widened beyond those shows. Macklemore responded on Instagram after being dropped from the remaining U.S. dates of Sheeran’s Loop Tour. He said Sheeran had told him that saying “Free Palestine” was hurtful to many people. Separately, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused Kraft of lining up stadiums to censor Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian comments. The competing accounts have put Kraft at the center of a debate over whether the removal was a response to antisemitism or an effort to silence political speech supporting Palestinians.
