Robert Kraft Addresses Decision to Block Macklemore from Playing Gillette Stadium

Patriots owner Robert Kraft has released a statement addressing his decision to block Macklemore from performing with Ed Sheeran at Gillette Stadium and reportedly reach out to other stadium owners to do the same, a move that ultimately led Sheeran to drop Macklemore from his tour. In a statement to CONSEQUENCE, Kraft said that, “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. Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.” While opening for Macklemore during a pair of concerts at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, earlier this month, the rapper expressed his support for a free Palestine, telling the crowd: “One of the reasons why I wanted to come on this tour was because I wanted to stand up here on stages in stadiums a...