Until this month, I did not know what a Macklemore was. I have since found out, and I can report that I wasn’t missing out on anything. Not giving a crap about some rapper I’ve never heard of, I moved on with my life so I could write about important things. Then people started crying about free speech, and the Constitution got dragged into it. So, of course, now I have to say something.
For those of you who, like me, were blissfully unaware, here's what happened. Macklemore, an American rapper, landed a spot as a supporting act on Ed Sheeran's current tour. It seems like his main goal was to shout "Free Palestine" in stadiums. He got his wish at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where he made the statements during two performances. Multiple venues then told the tour promoter they wouldn't host shows with him on the bill, and the promoter dropped him from the remaining dates.
Pro-Israel advocacy groups pushed for the move, and so did several venue owners. The most prominent was Robert Kraft, the Jewish owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, who refused to let Macklemore perform at his venue. Kraft said his objection is to what he views as Macklemore's broader record of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.
Reminder - Macklemore dressed up as an Orthodox Jew, wearing a massive prosthetic nose at a Seattle show. Macklemore doesn’t care about Palestinians. He just hates Jews. https://t.co/owNKyRA81D
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) September 7, 2026
The backlash against Sheeran was significant, and the other opening acts on the tour dropped out in solidarity with Macklemore. I'd tell you their names, but I’m guessing you haven't heard of them either.
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If you didn’t know already, I’m the writer half of Margolis & Cox editorial cartoons. Recently, I came across a cartoon from another cartoonist at our national syndicate accusing Kraft of violating Macklemore's First Amendment rights.
It's sad how many people don't understand the First Amendment.
The amendment opens with "Congress shall make no law," and it restrains the government from censoring speech. It says nothing about forcing a private property owner to host speech he opposes.
Robert Kraft isn’t the government, and his business interests privately financed and operate Gillette Stadium.
As for Macklemore, he remains perfectly free under the Constitution to say "Free Palestine," condemn Israel, or falsely accuse it of genocide or apartheid. He can do it on a street corner, on social media, or at any venue willing to book him. What he can't do is demand that Kraft hand him a stage to do it.
What really gets me, though, is the hypocrisy. The same people insisting that Kraft trampled on Macklemore's free speech are, by and large, the same people who think Fox News should be banned from the airwaves, or who wanted people punished for saying the 2020 election was stolen or that COVID came from the Wuhan lab.
I'm tired of people shouting free speech when they clearly have no idea what it means.
