Lorde has called out Robert Kraft following the Ed Sheeran, Macklemore tour controversy, sporting a “Free Palestine” jacket at a concert and tagging the billionaire in a photo of the outfit.
In a Monday (Oct. 5) post on her Instagram Story, the pop star showed off the one-of-a-kind piece she wore for her Austin City Limits set two days prior, which she hand-decorated with messages seemingly in her own handwriting. The bottom trim of the jacket displays the largest lettering, which reads: “FREE PALESTINE!!!!!!” in all caps.
“@mr.robertkraft,” Lorde typed in a large callout positioned over the photo.
Billboard has reached out to Kraft for comment.
The not-so-subtle dig comes after Kraft involved himself in the supporting lineup on Sheeran’s ongoing Loop Tour. After Macklemore chanted “Free Palestine” and showed visuals of the violence in Gaza at his first two opening sets on the trek in early September, the CEO — whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium — rallied other stadium owners to bar Sheeran from performing at their venues unless he dropped the rapper as opener.
The British singer’s concert promoter in the U.S., Messina Touring Group, ended up terminating its contract with Macklemore, who then donated the $1 million he’d made from the short-lived stint to Palestinian aid. In solidarity, all of Sheeran’s remaining openers — Finneas, Aaron Rowe and Lukas Graham — subsequently dropped out of the Loop Tour.
Amid the public back-and-forth between Sheeran, Macklemore and himself, Kraft also announced plans to pledge money to humanitarian organizations in Gaza and stated, “This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf … but that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community.”
In lieu of his previous commitment to Sheeran’s tour, Macklemore is now in the process of planning his Free Palestine Tour, which will raise money for Palestinian aid and make stops in Dublin, London and Paris. He recently announced that the exhibition “sold out immediately.”
Macklemore hasn’t yet announced the artists joining him on the string of benefit performances, but Lorde would certainly make sense as part of the lineup. The singer has long been vocalizing support for Palestinians, and — almost exactly a year prior to ACL — she chanted “Free f–king Palestine!” at her Ultrasound World Tour show at Madison Square Garden while singing “Team.”
