Zach Bryan took the stage at Gillette Stadium wearing a “Free Palestine” T-shirt on Friday night.
The country singer-songwriter, 28, performed at the Foxborough, Massachusetts venue owned by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, 83, just weeks after Kraft banned Macklemore from the same stadium over pro-Palestine remarks. Bryan’s Friday show marked the first of two consecutive nights at the venue, with his second performance scheduled for Saturday, October 3.
The shirt appeared to directly challenge Kraft, who had removed Macklemore from the stadium leg of Ed Sheeran’s U.S. Tour following the rapper’s onstage comments in early September. During a show at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Macklemore shouted “Free Palestine” in solidarity with people in Gaza and the West Bank while performing his song “Hind’s Hall,” which addresses pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia University. Devastating photos from the war were projected behind him during the performance.
Kraft found Macklemore’s speech to be “deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community,” according to reports of his response. Macklemore later revealed in a statement that Kraft had not only banned him from Gillette Stadium but had also “rallied” other stadium owners to pressure Sheeran into removing him from the tour entirely, threatening that Sheeran would lose access to those venues if he refused.
The fallout was immediate and sweeping. Every other supporting artist on Sheeran’s Mathematics Tour withdrew in protest of Macklemore’s removal. Finneas, Billie Eilish’s brother and collaborator, posted a statement on social media explaining his decision.
“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” he wrote. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”
Sheeran addressed the controversy from the stage during his Philadelphia show at Lincoln Financial Field, distancing himself from political activism while acknowledging the difficult position he faced.
“I don’t want to disappoint fans, and 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,” he told the crowd.
Macklemore responded by organizing his own headline run, the Free Palestine Tour, which he announced sold out immediately.
“We put these shows together fast and in community, believing that musicians can stand in solidarity with Palestine, use the stage to raise funds, and show what collective action can look like,” he said. “When those in power try to silence our calls for liberation, art will always be a form of resistance.”
Bryan has not publicly commented on his decision to wear the shirt at Kraft’s stadium. The Oklahoma-born artist has previously drawn political fire for his songwriting, including “Bad News,” which addressed ICE raids and drew heavy criticism from the Department of Homeland Security and the White House.
Bryan’s second Gillette Stadium performance is scheduled for Saturday night in Foxborough.