📰 News Digest • Global Plus News
Source: ESPN | Category: Sports World | Date: Sep 15, 2026
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Patriots' Kraft on Macklemore: Won't provide platform for 'hate speech'
-- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who also owns Gillette Stadium, said Monday that he had rapper Macklemore removed as an opening act for singer...
Key points
- -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who also owns Gillette Stadium, said Monday that he had rapper Macklemore removed as an opening act for singer Ed Sheeran's shows at the venue later this month because the 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," Kraft said in a statement shared with ESPN.
- Macklemore, 43, said on social media Monday that Sheeran informed him Kraft wouldn't allow Macklemore to perform at Gillette.
- Macklemore also said Sheeran told him that Kraft rallied other stadium owners to make the same decision and that he was subsequently dropped from the tour.
- The 85-year-old Kraft, who is Jewish, said his decision "is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf." "Their pain and loss are real," Kraft said his statement.
What happened
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-- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who also owns Gillette Stadium, said Monday that he had rapper Macklemore removed as an opening act for singer Ed Sheeran's shows at the venue later this month because the 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," Kraft said in a statement shared with ESPN. Macklemore, 43, said on social media Monday that Sheeran informed him Kraft wouldn't allow Macklemore to perform at Gillette. Macklemore also said Sheeran told him that Kraft rallied other stadium owners to make the same decision and that he was subsequently dropped from the tour. The 85-year-old Kraft, who is Jewish, said his decision "is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent...