On Sept. 14, 2026, indie rapper Benjamin Haggerty, known by his stage name Macklemore, led a “free Palestine” chant while opening for singer Ed Sheeran, leading to a ban from Gillette Stadium. In reporting the story, most media have omitted or obscured Macklemore’s troubling past concerning Jews.
Macklemore was under contract with Sheeran, as the latter is on a tour in the United States. Sheeran and Macklemore were scheduled to perform at Gillette Stadium near Boston as part of the tour, but stadium owner Robert Kraft banned the rapper from the arena, leading to controversy.
The rapper’s chant, which raised particular consternation in the Jewish community, was not an isolated incident. In 2014, Macklemore appeared onstage at his concert wearing a Jew-face costume. After the controversy, he apologized, citing ignorance about the costume, and claiming that he simply wanted to disguise himself. Nobody can ever know for sure whether this explanation was honest, but the incident certainly deserves a mention in coverage of the “free Palestine” story.
Screenshot from a Raw Phone Camera Footage
This context is missing from most reports. Those who refer to do not do so affirmatively.
The Hill reported the story about Macklemore’s ban from the venue, including word of support for Macklemore by YouTube personality Rachel Accurso, known as Ms. Rachel, but it neither mentioned Macklemore’s past conduct nor the fact that Accurso had previously liked a social media comment, “Free america from the Jews.” Accurso claimed that it was a “mistake” and apologized. Likewise, other national outlets and local networks covered the news without mentioning Macklemore’s Jewface incident.
The New York Times also reported on the story about Kraft banning Macklemore. It quoted Kraft’s statement about Macklemore’s “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery,” but it did not elaborate on what that past was, leaving the impression that Kraft’s claim was unfounded, not something for which there is evidence.
Instead, the article reinforced the notion of unjust stifling of legitimate speech, alleging that other performers have faced sanctions for “supporting the Palestinian cause.” Notably, the paper cited rapper Bob Vylan’s concert last year in which he led the anti-Zionist “Death to the IDF” calling for violence as an example of pro-Palestinian advocacy, a terrible disservice to the Palestinian people.
Following the lead of America’s newspaper of record, many other outlets also covered up Macklemore’s past while noting Kraft’s accusatory statement without elaborating. It is curious that many television networks, a visual medium, did not show the disturbing image of Macklemore in a Jewish costume as they read Kraft’s statement about his past “imagery.”
Macklemore’s troubling rhetoric is not limited merely to anti-Jewish sentiment. On Sept. 19, 2009—a week after the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington—he tweeted:
911…bush knocked down the towers
News reports for the past two weeks were likewise silent about his Sept. 11 conspiracy theory.
In his statement, Kraft said, “I agree with Macklemore, adding, “Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering.” He is right, and Palestinians have undeniably suffered. An anti-Israel advocacy movement led by conspiracy theorists, such as Macklemore, will not lessen their suffering. Nor will the media’s conflation of deranged anti-Zionism with pro-Palestinian advocacy save lives or diminish hardship.
Celebrities are among America’s aristocracy, carrying enormous influence over public opinion. With the media misrepresentations falsely painting him as a victim of political persecution, Macklemore enjoys a bump in his status. Thanks to his sudden new fame, the former mid-tier rapper is now better positioned to spread hatred against Jews.
If the press had done its job and shared an image of Macklemore’s disgraceful Jew-face during Macklemore’s moment of fame, the American people would not now look at him as a Jewish billionaire’s victim but a bigot who deserves to be purged from polite society. Alas, the press failed to live up to its own lofty mission to serve public enlightenment as the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy.