Kap Says NFL Owners Entered Into A ‘Collusion’ Against Macklemore. He Would Know
Since rapper Macklemore was unceremoniously dumped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour over his views on Palestine, a whole house of dominoes has fallen one after the other.
Sheeran, who asked Macklemore to leave the tour, allegedly was threatened by stadium owners who said they wanted Macklemore out because of his pro-Palestine stance. Sheeran acquiesced, and the wrath has been swift: The four remaining opening acts have left the Loop Tour in solidarity with Macklemore; Ireland has officially dissed its ginger-British son, and Forbes reports that Sheeran’s tour tickets have been slashed by 50%.
Macklemore, on the other hand, has seemingly gained a newfound respect from many, and now former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has spoken out, saying that he sees himself in Macklemore, and that NFL team owners have colluded against the rapper, something Kap knows a thing or two about.
“The part that I hope people appreciate and take away in this moment is what [the New England Patriots owner] Robert Kraft and what they’re saying by denying Macklemore the opportunity to go out and perform with Ed Sheeran is they are willing to collude,” Kaepernick said on the MeidasTouch podcast, while promoting his new book, The Perilous Fight. “[NFL owners] are openly colluding.”
Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots and an unapologetic Zionist, told Sheeran that Macklemore had to leave Sheeran’s tour after saying several other owners of NFL would not let Macklemore play at their venues. Macklemore was then dumped from the tour and posted about it afterward with all the details.
Kaepernick told MeidasTouch that Kraft and other NFL owners treated him similarly. When Kaepernick kneeled against police brutality during the 2016 season, he was let go by the San Francisco 49ers and was not picked up by another NFL team. Ever.
Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL, saying that the team owners colluded against him, and in 2019, he settled with the NFL for an undisclosed amount.
“When we filed the grievance, it was like, well, the owners wouldn’t do that,” Kaepernick said. “And the realization is [they would]. They want to protect their interests. They want to protect their power. They want to protect their money. And they also want people to know that if you take an action that they don’t agree with, they will come for you.”
And come for Macklemore, they did. On Sept. 4 and 5, during an appearance at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Macklemore told the crowd he wanted the people of Gaza and the occupied West Bank to know “we have not forgotten about them,” according to The Guardian.
Macklemore also wore a keffiyeh on the first night, and repeated “Free Palestine” on the second, and performed his pro-Palestinian song, “Hind’s Hall,” while showing war images from Gaza.
Another thing Kap said on the podcast is a version of the old adage, “If they come for me in the morning, they will come for you at night”—meaning, if we let this collusion/anti-free speech/abuse of power slide, it can and will happen to anyone.
“It may not touch you today; at some point it’s going to come knocking on your doorstep, or someone you love’s doorstep, and that’s not the moment to be able to take action,” said Kaepernick. “We should be taking action actively right now.”
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