Zach Bryan used his Friday, October 2 performance at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts to make a public statement, taking the stage in a shirt bearing the words "Free Palestine." The clothing choice carried particular weight given the venue: Gillette Stadium is home to the New England Patriots, the team owned by Robert Kraft.
Kraft, 85, had previously made clear that Macklemore would not be permitted at the stadium after the rapper led a "free Palestine" chant during a performance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where he appeared as part of Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour last month. Bryan, 30, appeared to be signaling support for Macklemore through both the timing and the location of his wardrobe choice.
The fallout from Macklemore's MetLife Stadium chant extended well beyond Gillette Stadium. Macklemore, 43, was controversially removed from the remaining eight scheduled Loop Tour appearances. Sheeran, 35, publicly denied that he fired Macklemore and has since donated $2 million to provide global humanitarian aid.
Other performers on the tour responded to Macklemore's removal by stepping away. Fellow openers Finneas and Lukas Graham both left in solidarity, and Sheeran's backing band, Beoga, likewise withdrew from the lineup.
Sheeran returned to the stage on September 19 in Philadelphia, where he addressed the controversy and apologized to the crowd for what he described as "mistakes" in handling the fallout from Macklemore's axing. According to Celebrity News: Latest Celeb News & Pictures - Us Weekly, Sheeran told the audience, "This has put me in the middle of an important, passionate argument about freedom of speech on the most complex issue on the planet." He continued, "[My music] has always been a safe space for everyone. That matters hugely to me. Honoring my commitment to my fans is also completely essential to who I am. That is why I'm here tonight — on my own — continuing my own tour."
Macklemore responded to his removal by announcing his own "Free Palestine Tour." In an Instagram post dated September 24, he wrote, "If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it's that something has shifted over the last three years," adding that there had been "a collective awakening around Palestinian liberation, the power of billionaires that try to censor that call, and what we expect from artists right now," as reported by Celebrity News: Latest Celeb News & Pictures - Us Weekly.
Macklemore continued in the post, "It's 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn't work anymore. People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment. To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it."
The rapper also used the post to challenge the notion that wealthy figures should be able to determine which artists are heard. "What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage," Macklemore wrote, according to Celebrity News: Latest Celeb News & Pictures - Us Weekly. "When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention. So, as you all know, my schedule freed up a bit."
Bryan's shirt at Gillette Stadium places him alongside Macklemore in a growing public conversation about artistic expression and venue control. The episode has drawn attention to the influence of team owners and tour organizers over what performers can say on stage, a question that now follows Sheeran's Loop Tour, Macklemore's newly announced Free Palestine Tour, and Bryan's own stadium dates.
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Ava Hart
Ava Hart is a pop culture junkie and loves to share what's happening in Hollywood and what trends are taking the world by storm.
