U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has accused Patriots owner Robert Kraft of coordinating with other stadium owners to keep rapper Macklemore off stages over his criticism of Israel, escalating a dispute that centers on Kraft’s Foxborough-based Gillette Stadium.
Kraft moved to block Macklemore from performing at Gillette Stadium, which sits in Foxborough in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. It has not been established what role, if any, Kraft played in decisions made by other venues regarding Macklemore’s participation in the upcoming Ed Sheeran tour.
Ocasio-Cortez told TMZ that Kraft’s actions amount to a broader pattern of suppression.
“You see what Robert Kraft did to line up all of the stadium [owners] to censor speech in that one specific way; it’s become clear this is not just about one music artist or two music artists,” she said. “This is about how just a handful of stadium owners and the elites could prevent an entire massive issue like the genocide in Gaza [from being discussed]. It doesn’t stop there; it could be speaking about AI or any issue. You can just get a handful of stadium owners to ensure that an entire person’s career can be jeopardized if they speak out about any issues.”
Kraft, who is Jewish, has taken a prominent public role in campaigns against antisemitism in recent years.
A privately owned stadium
Gillette Stadium, home to the New England Patriots, is notable for being one of the few NFL venues built and operated without public financing. It is owned through Kraft Sports + Entertainment, a division of the Kraft Group, which Kraft chairs. Kraft personally owns the land, parking lots and surrounding infrastructure at the Foxborough site.
That ownership structure means the legal questions that might arise around a publicly funded venue restricting a performer’s speech do not apply in the same way to Gillette Stadium. Neither the U.S. Constitution nor Massachusetts law bars a private property owner from declining to host a performer for ideological reasons.
Sports commentator Armando Salguero of OutKick raised a separate argument in response to Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism, framing her position as a challenge to private business owners’ own rights.
“If we live in a country where a Jewish man must open his business to obscene anti-Jewish lunatics spewing lies and hate, then how long before Black business owners must serve customers who are openly and verbally racist at their place of business?” Salguero wrote.
Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran is working to keep his tour lineup intact as calls for solidarity with Macklemore have led some scheduled performers to cancel their appearances.
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