Macklemore Says Robert Kraft Rallied Stadium Owners to Force Him Off Ed Sheeran Tour

UPDATED: 3:31 PM

Macklemore says New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft spearheaded the effort that forced him off Ed Sheeran’s remaining U.S. stadium tour dates, alleging that Kraft barred him from Gillette Stadium before rallying other stadium owners behind an ultimatum to Sheeran.

The rapper made the allegation Monday in a lengthy statement addressing his removal from Sheeran’s Loop Tour. Macklemore said Sheeran personally told him that Kraft had called the singer following controversy over Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian remarks during two September performances at MetLife Stadium.

“Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him,” Macklemore wrote. According to Macklemore, Sheeran also told him that Kraft had “rallied some of the other stadium owners,” who collectively warned that Sheeran would not be allowed to perform at their venues if Macklemore remained on the tour.

Kraft strongly disputed Macklemore’s account in a statement Monday afternoon, calling the rapper’s allegations “categorically false” and denying that he threatened to block Sheeran’s concerts or rallied stadium owners behind a collective ultimatum.

Kraft’s statement nevertheless confirmed that he personally contacted Sheeran about Macklemore. Rather than the phone call described by Macklemore, Kraft said he sent Sheeran a text message asking him “to consider not including Macklemore on the Gillette Stadium show due to the concerns of the Jewish community.”

The Kraft Group also acknowledged that Kraft communicated with the owner and manager of one other stadium about Macklemore’s participation. It said that outreach was undertaken only to inform them of “the Jewish community’s deep concerns regarding Macklemore’s participation” and that Kraft made no threat to cancel a performance.

“The Kraft Group expressly denies that RKK ever communicated to Mr. Sheeran that the concert would be canceled if Macklemore were on the performance list,” the statement said. “No threat to cancel a performance was made.”

Messina Touring Group has independently said multiple venues informed the promoter that concerts would not be allowed to proceed with Macklemore on the lineup. Kraft now acknowledges contacting Sheeran and at least one other stadium regarding Macklemore, but denies that his outreach produced or was intended to produce the multi-venue ultimatum described by Macklemore.

Messina Touring Group told Rolling Stone that venues hosting upcoming U.S. tour dates had informed the promoter that they would not allow concerts to take place with Macklemore on the lineup. Messina said the resulting cancellations would have affected hundreds of thousands of fans and that, following discussions with stakeholders, Macklemore would be removed from the remaining support dates.

The promoter did not initially identify who was behind the objections or whether the decisions had been coordinated. Macklemore is now alleging that Kraft — whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium, where Sheeran is scheduled to play two shows later this month — helped organize the pressure among multiple stadium operators.

That distinction is important. Messina’s statement confirms that multiple venues threatened the tour, while Macklemore’s subsequent statement attributes the coordination of those venues to Kraft based on conversations Macklemore says he had with Sheeran.

Rolling Stone identified the affected venues as Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Because Sheeran is scheduled to perform two nights at Gillette Stadium, those seven venues account for all eight remaining stadium concerts at which Macklemore had been scheduled to appear. The two other dates remaining on the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s Loop Tour are Oct. 29 and 30 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, where Aaron Rowe was already listed as Sheeran’s support act rather than Macklemore.

The stadium tour resumes Saturday, Sept. 19 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

Macklemore said Kraft’s alleged intervention came amid intense attention surrounding his Sept. 4 and 5 appearances with Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. During those performances, the rapper spoke in support of Palestinians, called for a “Free Palestine” and performed “Hind’s Hall,” his 2024 protest song inspired by the pro-Palestinian student movement.

Macklemore also used his set to criticize U.S. immigration enforcement and advocate for people affected by conflicts elsewhere around the world.

The performances generated criticism from several Jewish and pro-Israel organizations. The Israeli-American Council circulated a petition calling for Macklemore’s removal from Sheeran’s tour, arguing that concertgoers had purchased tickets for an entertainment event rather than a political demonstration. The Anti-Defamation League and other groups also criticized the performance.

Macklemore defended his remarks after the controversy, saying criticism of the Israeli government should not be interpreted as criticism of Jewish people and describing his broader message as one of equal dignity and treatment.

“Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial,” he wrote while sharing footage from the performances.

In his new statement, Macklemore said the controversy led to a series of difficult conversations with Sheeran, whom he described as a friend of 13 years. He said Sheeran told him that the decision ultimately came down to keeping Macklemore on the tour or risking access to multiple stadiums needed to complete it.

Neither Kraft nor Sheeran had publicly confirmed Macklemore’s characterization of those conversations as of Monday afternoon. Representatives for the stadiums also had not publicly detailed their reasons for refusing to host shows with Macklemore on the lineup.

Kraft has made combating antisemitism a major focus of his philanthropy. He founded the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism in 2019, and the organization has since mounted national campaigns aimed at identifying and confronting antisemitic rhetoric and incidents.

That work provides relevant context to Kraft’s alleged intervention, but Macklemore did not say the foundation itself was involved, and no available statement from Kraft has explained his reasons for allegedly objecting to Macklemore’s appearance at Gillette Stadium.

The episode also comes just days after Messina himself raised questions about the power that control of major concert venues can give industry participants.

Messina Touring Group operates in partnership with AEG Presents, and Louis Messina has promoted Sheeran for years. Just days before the Macklemore decision, Messina filed pointed comments asking a federal judge to reject the Justice Department’s proposed antitrust settlement with Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

Messina alleged in that filing that Live Nation had previously used its control of major amphitheaters to interfere with his ability to promote tours for artists who wanted to work with him. He said Live Nation stopped returning his calls while he attempted to route several tours through the company’s venues and argued that control over desirable buildings can give a promoter substantial leverage over competing tours.

There is no indication that Live Nation or Ticketmaster played a role in the Macklemore dispute, and the circumstances described in Messina’s antitrust filing are separate from the current controversy. Macklemore’s new allegation instead identifies Kraft as the person who initiated the effort and encouraged other stadium owners to join it.

The immediate consequence is that Sheeran’s U.S. stadium tour remains intact while Macklemore is off the bill.

The existence of the broader venue ultimatum has been confirmed by Sheeran’s promoter: Messina Touring Group says multiple stadiums threatened not to host upcoming concerts with Macklemore included. What remains disputed is how those venues arrived at that position.

Macklemore says Sheeran told him Kraft rallied stadium owners behind the ultimatum. Kraft acknowledges asking Sheeran to remove Macklemore from Gillette Stadium and contacting another stadium’s leadership about the rapper, but categorically denies threatening cancellations or organizing a coordinated effort to force him from the tour.