Robert Kraft opposes dangerous lies, not free speech | Matt Calkins

Based on the way American attitudes have shifted toward a certain country in the Middle East, Robert Kraft likely lost a lot of fans with a recent decision. But that doesn't mean it was the wrong decision. Not in the least.

The Patriots' owner said Monday that Macklemore will be removed from two of Ed Sheeran's shows later this month at Gillette Stadium (which Kraft also owns) for what he deemed "hate speech" toward the Jewish community. Macklemore has made no secret of how he feels about Israel, regularly using his platform to decry a "genocide" he falsely says is taking place in Gaza.

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His protest song "Hind's Hall" — in which he says former President Joe Biden has blood on his hands and that the music industry is "complicit" with its "silence" — is hardly subtle. It celebrates the violent and illegal actions by students, faculty and outside activists on the campus of Columbia University. And though some may accuse Kraft of launching an attack on free speech, I think he was saying something else: enough.

That takes a lot of spine when it's clear there will be backlash. All of the other opening acts for Sheeran (not to mention his own band) quit the tour in solidarity with Macklemore, while Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez denounced Kraft's choice as "censorship" against "the genocide in Gaza."

Kraft has since pledged $2 million toward humanitarian aid in the Israel-Gaza region but he's held firm on his Macklemore ban. Other owners have followed suit. Good on them. The genocide talk has to stop — because it has real consequences.

"Real Time" host Bill Maher expressed a similar sentiment during his "New Rule" segment last Friday. It was a long way from an Israel hagiography, but he pushed back against the genocide lie that so many have adopted as fact.

ROBERT KRAFT, GILLETTE STADIUM BOOT MACKLEMORE FROM ED SHEERAN TOUR OVER ‘FREE PALESTINE’ RANT

Genocides, Maher said, are attempts to wipe out entire populations. The attacker won't stop until all of its human targets are exterminated. That isn't what's happening in Gaza — just as it wasn't what was happening when the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, leading to the end of World War II.

A stat that Maher used to bolster his point was that about 73,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli counter attacks since October 7, 2023,(according to Hamas, while not distinguishing how many were part of Hamas) which comprises roughly three percent of their population. He then pointed out how nearly 99 percent of the three million Jews in Poland were killed during World War II. The first reflects the tragedy of war. But only the second is a genocide.

Still, polling has shown that Americans are more likely to believe that a genocide is taking place in Gaza than not. And it coincides with a Gallup poll showing that more Americans are sympathetic toward Palestine than it is Israel. Another study found that almost half the country has difficulty distinguishing American Jews from the Israeli government.

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Might that be why the Anti-Defamation League reported a 360% increase in antisemitic incidents since Hamas' attack on Israel three Octobers ago? Or why a 2025 American Jewish Committee poll found that 91 percent of American Jews felt less safe as a Jewish person due to violent attacks in the U.S? Or why 55 percent said they have changed their behavior (such as hiding Jewish identity) over a one-year span for fear of antisemitism?

If you watch this video of Pro-Palestine supporters blocking a Jewish student from going to class, you'll see a clear case of young minds being poisoned by rhetoric.

Kraft, who's Jewish, knows the effect that type of rhetoric can have. So, he did something about it.

This, of course, is much different than preventing someone from speaking their minds in a public space. Free speech in that respect must be preserved at all costs. But the First Amendment doesn't stop words from having consequences. Sometimes they get you fired, sometimes they tarnish your reputation, and sometimes they make it so you can't perform in privately-owned stadiums.

This isn't the first time Macklemore has been muted for what's come out of his mouth. After he said "F--- America" at a show in Seattle two years ago, the Mariners stopped playing his song "Can't Hold Us" during the seventh-inning stretch.

No doubt the rapper has the right to say what he wants. But Kraft and other owners have the right — or perhaps in this case, duty — to say "not on our turf."

I'm generally not a big fan of end-zone messaging like "End Racism." It just feels performative. But Yom Kippur — the holiest of Jewish holidays — starts at sundown Sunday.

If the NFL insists on those end-zone slogans, maybe "End Antisemitism" should get a turn