Robert Kraft grew up in a strict Orthodox Jewish family, with a father who led the local community. Today, the New England Patriots owner is one of Israel’s most prominent supporters in American sports. When you step onto his home turf at Gillette Stadium, his political boundaries come with the ticket. But on Friday night, a popular musician decided to test those limits. 

Country singer Zach Bryan took the stage at the Foxborough venue as part of his tour, wearing a tee that read “Free Palestine” in bold letters, as TMZ reports. His bandmates wore matching shirts. Without saying a word into the microphone, Bryan sent a clear message across the stadium floor, turning a quiet wardrobe choice into a loud political statement on Kraft’s own stage.

Bryan never brought up the shirt during his set. He did not have to. The quiet move spoke directly to Kraft just weeks after Gillette Stadium landed in heat for blocking rapper Macklemore from opening for Ed Sheeran last month. By wearing the shirt, Bryan brought the very phrase Kraft tried to keep out right into the spotlight.

During the New Jersey leg of the tour on September 4 and 5, Macklemore took the opportunity to speak out against the ongoing violence in Gaza. This eventually led to his ban at Gillette Stadium.

“A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so that I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very, very dear to my heart: Free Palestine,” Macklemore said at MetLife Stadium.

Macklemore later revealed on social media that Kraft, who had donated millions of dollars toward sports, innovation, and pro-Israel organizations over the years, called Sheeran and accused the rapper of making statements that Kraft considered “hate speech” against Israelis. 

“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” Macklemore wrote on social media. “Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”

With the Israeli American Council also petitioning for the rapper’s removal, the British singer-songwriter eventually dropped Macklemore from his opening act lineup for the rest of the tour, which will end in early November. Kraft reportedly also pledged $2 million towards relief aid in Palestine after being criticized for banning Macklemore, matching Sheeran’s own donation. 

However, his attempt at placating critics fell flat after The Intercept reported that the Kraft Family Foundation had donated $196,000 to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and $123,000 to other organizations that served Israeli military soldiers and veterans over the last two decades. 

The publication also revealed that the Kraft Group contributed $3 million to the United Democracy Project super political action committee (super PAC), which has been part of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) since 2022.

Robert Kraft on why he banned Macklemore

Kraft defended his decision to ban the American rapper from Gillette Stadium, suggesting that inflammatory statements such as the ones made by Macklemore led to divisiveness and encouraged antisemitic hostility.

“Gillette 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,” Kraft said, via Front Office Sports.

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.” 

Regarding the situation in Gaza, Kraft stated that while he sympathized with the Palestinian people’s plight, he couldn’t justify supporting the actions of Hamas, which he called a “terrorist organization whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

Now, all eyes turn to Bryan’s second show on Saturday night. Kraft could issue a formal statement, slap the tour with a fine, or even ban Bryan from future venue dates just like Macklemore. Either way, Bryan put stadium owners on notice that muting artist political expression is much harder when the performers choose to speak through their clothing.