Zach Bryan broke Gillette Stadium’s attendance record while wearing a “Free Palestine” shirt, weeks after Macklemore was removed from Ed Sheeran’s tour ahead of dates at the Robert Kraft-owned venue over pro-Palestine remarks.
Bryan wore the shirt at both of his Friday and Saturday shows on the With Heaven On Tour and did not address it or Palestine from the stage. On Saturday, the stadium posted that he had drawn 73,538 fans, the largest crowd in the venue’s history.
The gesture was act of defiance against Patriots owner Robert Kraft weeks after Kraft blocked rapper Macklemore from performing there over pro-Palestine comments.
Members of Bryan’s band also wore jerseys supporting Palestine during the first of two weekend shows in Foxboro. Drummer Nate Head and guitarist Noah Le Gros wore jerseys from Wear the Peace, a brand that donates its profits to humanitarian aid in Gaza. The company praised them Saturday on X: “This is how you represent Palestine in the same stadium that tried to silence it. Thank you Nate and Noah for rocking our jerseys, it makes us proud. Free Palestine.”
The Boston Herald reports the gesture drew mixed reactions online. The X account Only in Boston noted Saturday that no one invited to GSSocialSuite, Gillette’s VIP social media and influencer experience, posted a photo of Bryan performing that night. As the stadium’s official account advertised Saturday’s second stop on the “With Heaven On Tour,” fans filled the replies. “Zach Bryan made Kraft look like a bozo,” one wrote. Another replied, “You have a whole antisemitism database in your stadium and you’re just gonna let him do this?”
Kraft had removed Macklemore as an opening act for Ed Sheeran’s Gillette shows last month after the rapper advocated for Palestinian freedom in New Jersey and performed his war-protest song, “Hind’s Hall.” Kraft, who established the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, said Macklemore’s “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community … would cross that line.” He later pledged $2 million for humanitarian aid in the Middle East.