AOC Offers Powerful Warning After Macklemore Is Dropped From Ed Sheeran's Tour Over 'Free Palestine' Controversy

New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned on Tuesday about the "dangerous" precedent that has been set after rapper Macklemore was removed from pop singer Ed Sheeran's tour for declaring "Free Palestine."

Macklemore’s departure from Sheeran’s tour followed his pro-Palestinian remarks during a performance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month, where he urged the crowd to “Free Palestine.” The rapper has repeatedly spoken out about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. A number of organizations, including the United Nations, have determined Israel's actions in Palestine amount to genocide.

Macklemore has singled out New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, alleging that he played a central role in pushing him off the tour and encouraged other stadium owners to take similar action.

Kraft confirmed that Macklemore would not be permitted to perform at Gillette Stadium, citing the rapper’s recent comments as well as what he described as a broader history of “antisemitic rhetoric and imagery” that he said had offended and hurt members of the Jewish community.

Kraft did not directly address Macklemore’s allegation that he had rallied other stadium owners to prevent the rapper from appearing on the tour.

But Macklemore's removal triggered a broader fallout. All of the remaining opening acts on Sheeran’s tour, including his backing band, subsequently announced plans to withdraw in solidarity with Macklemore.

Sheeran said Tuesday that the decision was made by the tour’s promoters and venues rather than by him, adding that he had spent the week trying to mediate the dispute. He also said he was not complicit and maintained that he holds his own views on Gaza and Israel-Palestine relations.

When she was asked about Sheeran’s responsibility for Macklemore’s ousting, Ocasio-Cortez confirmed she would be changing the station whenever Sheeran's music comes on the radio out of solidarity with Macklemore. She did, however, stress the responsibility Kraft bears for the scandal.

She said:

"I think that what we've seen, especially — it's not just what has happened with the act, and not just in removing Macklemore from the lineup."

"But when you see what Robert Kraft did to line up all of the stadiums to censor speech in that one specific way, it’s become clear that this is not just about one music artist or two music artists, but this is about how just a handful of stadium owners and the elite can prevent an entire massive issue — in this case, the genocide in Gaza."

"But it doesn't stop there. It could be speaking out against AI, it could be speaking out against any issue, that you can now just get a handful of stadium owners to ensure that an entire person's career could be jeopardized if they speak out against any issue."

Of Sheeran, she said:

"I think that, because you never see these contracts, I have no idea what the financial entanglements of all that is, but I do think that the right thing to do is speak out about it. And I think the right thing to do, at the very least, is to speak out about this abuse of power."

"Because if they're saying that to him, then they can say it to anybody, and at what point does it stop? I have a huge amount of empathy for the situation because I think people want to focus here to be about Ed Sheeran, and he of course plays a role, but they're not putting the focus on Robert Kraft and the actual people who are kind of twisting things here."

"Again, everybody has responsibility in this situation, everyone plays a role, but we need to be very clear about how dangerous a precedent this is."

You can hear what she said in the video below.

Many concurred with the congresswoman's concerns about censorship.

Macklemore has announced that he will donate $1 million of his net earnings from Sheeran’s Loop Tour to six organizations supporting people in Palestine.

The rapper said that “aid alone cannot address the conditions that make it necessary" and stressed that Palestinians "have lived for decades without basic rights and should not have to wait another day to be free." He said his “focus will remain” standing with “the Palestinian people and their fight for liberation.”

Macklemore also invited Kraft to match the donation.