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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D NY-14) used New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s decision to bar rapper Macklemore from Gillette Stadium to raise money, JNS reported on Thursday.
Kraft said he would not “provide a platform for hate speech” and accused Macklemore, whose legal name is Benjamin Haggerty, of having “a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.” Macklemore had been scheduled to perform at the stadium as part of singer Ed Sheeran’s tour.
At an earlier concert, Macklemore shouted “Free Palestine” and performed a song charging Israel with genocide, an allegation that revives the medieval blood libel now redirected at the Jewish state.
In 2014, Macklemore wore a fake hooked nose, wig and beard during a performance, a costume he later apologized for.
Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the House Democrats’ far-left “Squad,” called the ban “a dangerous precedent” in a fundraising email.
“This is not just about a single musical act,” she wrote. “This is about how a small handful of powerful people, like stadium owners, can threaten someone’s livelihood in order to prevent an entire massive issue from being spoken about—in this case, the genocide in Gaza.”
She warned, “Oligarchs and billionaires could just as easily prevent people from speaking out about AI, workers’ rights or any issue they don’t like,” and urged supporters to “keep the focus on Robert Kraft and the way he’s using his influence to try to control what can and cannot be talked about in America.”
The email did not specify how the funds would be raised or used.
By portraying a Jewish stadium owner as wielding power to control public debate, Ocasio-Cortez’s language echoes longstanding antisemitic tropes about Jewish wealth and influence.
🗣️ Rep. AOC tells @hicharliecotton she is boycotting Ed Sheeran because she says he's complicit in Robert Kraft and other stadium owners' efforts to silence Macklemore. pic.twitter.com/zuISc3zaFs
— TMZ (@TMZ) September 15, 2026
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