New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s refusal to host American rapper Macklemore at the stadium he owns over the singer’s accusations of Israeli “genocide” drew the ire of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), one of the Jewish state’s harshest critics in Congress.
The congresswoman sent out a fundraising email criticizing the Jewish “billionaire stadium owner” for his actions.
“This is not just about a single musical act,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “This is about how a small handful of powerful people, like stadium owners, can threaten someone’s livelihood in order to prevent an entire massive issue from being spoken about—in this case, the genocide in Gaza.”
Kraft said that he would not allow Macklemore, whose legal name is Benjamin Haggerty, to perform at Gillette Stadium, where he was scheduled to appear as part of Ed Sheeran’s musical tour.
The rapper shouted “free Palestine” at an earlier concert and sang a song charging Israel with “genocide” in Gaza.
Kraft stated that he would not “provide a platform for hate speech” and accused the rapper of having “a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”
Macklemore appeared with a hooked false nose, wig and fake beard in 2014, for which he later apologized, CNN said.
B’nai B’rith International called the costume “deeply offensive” and said it “propagates Jewish stereotypes.”
Ocasio-Cortez, part of the far-left “Squad” of House Democrats, called Kraft’s Macklemore ban “a dangerous precedent.”
“Oligarchs and billionaires could just as easily prevent people from speaking out about AI, workers’ rights or any issue they don’t like,” she wrote in the fundraising email. “This moment is a test of how far the very powerful can go in censoring speech.”
She said it was important to “keep the focus on Robert Kraft and the way he’s using his influence to try to control what can and cannot be talked about in America.”
Macklemore said he would donate $1 million to Palestinian groups and challenged Kraft to do the same. Kraft said in a statement that Sheeran asked him to match his $2 million donation for “aid to the region.”
“For decades, I have supported efforts that create opportunities for Palestinians and have brought young Palestinians and Israelis together to build businesses, create jobs and forge relationships,” Kraft stated.
