--- title: "Zach Bryan Wore a ‘Free Palestine’ Shirt on Robert Kraft’s Own Stage" description: "Weeks after Kraft had Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour, the phrase came back to Gillette Stadium" author: "Nate Ledger" published: 2026-10-03T17:51:00Z modified: 2026-10-04T01:01:09Z url: https://rews.cc/a/zach-bryan-wore-a-free-palestine-shirt-on-robert-kraft-s-own-dcf58c language: en tags: ["politics", "music", "israel", "palestine", "gaza", "us"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Zach Bryan Wore a ‘Free Palestine’ Shirt on Robert Kraft’s Own Stage *Weeks after Kraft had Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran’s tour, the phrase came back to Gillette Stadium* By Nate Ledger · October 3, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/zach-bryan-wore-a-free-palestine-shirt-on-robert-kraft-s-own-dcf58c ## In brief - Zach Bryan performed Friday at Robert Kraft’s Gillette Stadium in a “Free Palestine” shirt, as did band members - Kraft had Macklemore removed from Ed Sheeran’s tour after the rapper said “Free Palestine” at MetLife Stadium - Sheeran’s other opening acts quit in solidarity; the Gillette shows were then called off in a nor’easter - Macklemore pledged $1 million to Palestinians; Kraft pledged $2 million to aid in the region - Bryan’s shirt also read “An appeal to heaven,” a Revolutionary-era slogan from Massachusetts’ old maritime flag On Friday night Zach Bryan walked onstage at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, wearing a black cutoff T-shirt with “Free Palestine” in white letters, and — per videos shot by fans and ricocheting around social media, as NBC News reports — several members of his band wore shirts with similar messages. It was the first of two concerts at the stadium; Saturday’s show closes out his With Heaven On Tour. A T-shirt is not usually news. What makes this one news is the building. Gillette is owned by Robert Kraft, the multibillionaire owner of the New England Patriots and, per NBC, a staunch supporter of Israel — and just a few weeks earlier Kraft decided, in his capacity as landlord, that the phrase “Free Palestine” would not be heard on his stage. As Yahoo put it, Bryan made his statement a few weeks into “Robert Kraft’s campaign against Macklemore.” The backstory, quickly. Last month the rapper Macklemore shouted “Free Palestine” from the stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey during his opening set on Ed Sheeran’s tour, and showed footage from Gaza on the screen behind him, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Kraft responded with a statement: “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.” Per the Boston Globe, Kraft enlisted other NFL owners to ban the rapper from their stadiums; Macklemore’s account, via THR, is that Kraft “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.” Macklemore was dropped from the tour altogether. Notice where the leverage sits. Kraft has no contract with Macklemore. Neither does Sheeran: “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.” Everyone in the chain is technically someone else’s problem — except the venues, which the owners own. When enough buildings say no, the tour math breaks. Macklemore framed it that way: “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.” He has also said, in an Instagram post, that “antisemitism is real,” while arguing that criticizing Israel should not be conflated with Jewish hate. The fallout sprawled. Sheeran’s other opening acts — NBC names Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, Finneas and the house band Beoga — withdrew in solidarity. Sheeran apologized for his handling of it: “I’ve never wanted to be an activist musician, but this has put me in the middle of an important and passionate argument about freedom of speech and the most complex political issue on the planet.” The two Gillette shows, Sept. 25 and 26, were called off anyway when a nor’easter arrived. Israel’s war in Gaza has killed more than 70,000 people, per local health authorities cited by NBC; it followed the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,200 in Israel. Then came the money. Macklemore pledged $1 million to support Palestinians and challenged Kraft to match it. Kraft went to $2 million — THR quotes his plan “to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis,” while CBS reports Kraft said he had already spoken to Sheeran about matching the pop star’s own $2 million pledge. Kraft also said he would “welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same – peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate,” and insisted the aim was not to stifle support for Palestinians but to keep Gillette a “welcoming environment.” There is, as it happens, more text on Bryan’s shirt. CBS Boston reports the full message reads “Free Palestine” and “An appeal to heaven,” above a pine tree logo — which, per a 2024 Associated Press article, is a phrase dating back to the Revolutionary War that flew on Massachusetts’ official maritime flag until 1971, from the belief that God would deliver the colonists from tyranny. Wearing the commonwealth’s own revolutionary flag into Robert Kraft’s stadium is, at minimum, a considered choice of garment. Bryan reportedly did not address the shirt, or Palestine, at all during the show — both the Globe and THR note the silence. Which sets up the question Kraft’s policy was never drafted to answer: the line was drawn against things shouted and screen-projected at MetLife. Does a shirt that says nothing out loud cross it? Kraft did not return requests for comment from NBC or THR, and Gillette Stadium had not responded to WBZ-TV. Saturday’s second show, as of now, is on. Bryan, 30, an Oklahoma native, Navy veteran and Grammy winner, has some form here. Earlier this year he released “Bad News,” a song aimed at ICE — “This land’s your land/This land mine too/Is this all true, man?/Or is it just bad news?” — that was condemned by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and was written, the Globe notes, before two Americans, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis. Offstage he has been building a Jack Kerouac center in a former Lowell church he bought, having paid a record price for the 120-foot scroll of *On the Road*. Macklemore, who has announced a fall Free Palestine Tour — Dublin, Paris and London on Oct. 26, 29 and 30, all proceeds to pro-Palestinian organizations, all three dates sold out — posted a photo of Bryan in the shirt on his Instagram Stories with the caption “Robert Kraft,” a side-eye emoji and a Palestinian flag. “When those in power try to silence our calls for liberation, art will always be a form of resistance,” he wrote of the sellouts. Kraft’s rule was written to keep a phrase off his stage. On Friday the phrase came back to that very stage, underneath the flag of the American Revolution, and said nothing at all. ## Sources - [Zach Bryan wears 'Free Palestine' T-shirt at Robert Kraft's Gillette](https://bostonglobe.com/2026/10/03/arts/zach-bryan-robert-kraft-gillette/) — bostonglobe.com - [Zach Bryan wears "Free Palestine" shirt at Gillette Stadium concert](https://cbsnews.com/boston/news/zach-bryan-free-palestine-shirt-gillette-stadium-robert-kraft/) — cbsnews.com - [Zach Bryan wears ‘Free Palestine’ shirt at Gillette Stadium concert, weeks after Ed Sheeran tour uproar](https://nbcnews.com/news/us-news/zach-bryan-wears-free-palestine-shirt-gillette-stadium-rcna601286) — nbcnews.com - [Zach Bryan Wears ‘Free Palestine’ Shirt During Concert at Robert Kraft’s Gillette Stadium](https://hollywoodreporter.com/music/music-news/zach-bryan-free-palestine-shirt-concert-gillette-stadium-1236721554/) — hollywoodreporter.com - [Zach Bryan Dons “Free Palestine” Shirt For Concert At Robert Kraft’s Gillette Stadium](https://yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/zach-bryan-dons-free-palestine-033411412.html) — yahoo.com