Macklemore claimed Monday the Jewish NFL owner Robert Kraft pressured Ed Sheeran to drop him from his tour after pro-Palestinian elements of his show.
The “Thrift Shop” rapper issued a self-aggrandizing statement in which he painted himself as a victim of a global conspiracy to silence critics of Israel.
“Ed told me Robert Kraft called him,” Macklemore wrote on X Monday. “We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft group. Ed told me that Kraft said I 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,” he added.
Macklemore, 43, had been opening for Sheeran and was scheduled to play eight more shows with him on the US leg of his current tour.
But he landed in hot water last week after making a pro-Palestinian stance and singing with a keffiyeh wrapped around his head.
“I wanted to stand up here on stages across America and say two words that are near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine,” he declared during the show.
Within days he was dropped from the tour, with Sheeran’s promoter explaining the stadiums they were playing said they wouldn’t book him if Macklemore remained on the bill.
