On Friday, during the first of two nights at Gillette Stadium, Zach Bryan took the stage wearing a t-shirt that read “Free Palestine.” The singer-songwriter appeared to be sending a message to stadium and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft after banning Macklemore from the venue following the Seattle rapper’s comments while on tour with Ed Sheeran.
Representatives for Bryan and Gillette Stadium did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In early September, during a show at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Macklemore shouted “Free Palestine”; expressed solidarity with the people of Gaza and the occupied West Bank; showed images of the devastating war in Gaza; and performed his protest song, “Hind’s Hall,” about pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University. Backlash was swift and pro-Israel groups fiercely criticized Macklemore, and he was subsequently excluded from the rest of Sheeran’s stadium tour.
Macklemore later claimed he was dropped from the trip after Kraft launched a pressure campaign against Sheeran to eliminate the rapper. Kraft, in his own statement, confirmed that he made the decision to ban Macklemore from performing at Gillette, saying it was based on his “recent actions, material shared from the stage at Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey.” Kraft, however, did not respond to the claim that he also “rallied” other stadium owners to put pressure on Sheeran as well.
All artists supporting Sheeran on his Loop Tour withdrew from his stadium run following Macklemore’s withdrawal. “Artists must not be silenced when they speak out for the oppressed,” Finneas wrote in a social media post. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”
Weeks after the controversy, Macklemore revealed his own headlining dates for his Free Palestine Tour, which he announced “sold out immediately.” “We put these shows together quickly and as a community, believing that musicians can stand in solidarity with Palestine, use the stage to raise funds and show what collective action can look like,” the artist said in a statement. “When those in power try to silence our calls for liberation, art will always be a form of resistance.”
For now, Bryan is still scheduled to return to Gillette Stadium on Saturday night as part of his sold-out With Heaven On Tour.
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