Macklemore, Chris Brown and Kanye West: Three tours in one America

Robert Kraft probably should have seen this coming. 

About two weeks ago, rapper Macklemore, opening for Ed Sheeran on tour, took the stage to repeat a message he’d been voicing for years: Free Palestine.

A few days later, he was dropped from Sheeran’s nationwide tour after the New England Patriots owner barred him from performing at Gillette Stadium and, according to Macklemore, helped rally other venues to oppose his participation, too.

At the same time, Kanye West is touring the country for his own series of sold-out shows, while legislators in Texas honored Chris Brown during one of the R&B singer’s performances. Together, these moments paint a picture of freedom of speech in America, celebrity culture and the heart of protest movements.

“Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line,” Kraft said in a statement shared with ESPN. 

The logic of other venue owners joining Kraft in banning Macklemore over concerns about antisemitism is hard to follow while Kanye West — who released a song entitled “Heil Hitler” just 18 months ago — continues to tour unabated.

West returned to touring in April after publicly apologizing for previous antisemitic remarks and other controversies. He’s insisted he is taking medication, attending therapy and working to stabilize his mental health. And, at least judging by ticket sales and the willingness of former collaborators to reappear alongside him, West appears to have fallen back into the good graces of fans and friends who once distanced themselves from him.

More than 70,000 fans packed Soldier Field, where the Bears play, in West’s hometown of Chicago. Formerly estranged colleagues such as Kid Cudi and Lupe Fiasco joined him backstage and on stage. The entire show was a re-coronation of one of rap’s biggest stars, who was given his throne back after the bare minimum of apologies.

Shortly after West’s Chicago homecoming, Chris Brown took the stage in Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, where the Cowboys play, as part of his co-headlining tour with Usher.

During his set, before about 60,000 fans, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett recognized Brown and Usher in the Congressional Record, while Texas state Rep. Venton Jones presented him with a separate state honor. The move brought immediate backlash for the politicians who took the stage to honor a superstar whose career has been marked by allegations of violence against women and other legal controversies for nearly two decades.

Beyond the 2009 assault on Rihanna to which he pleaded guilty, Brown’s former girlfriend Karrueche Tran obtained a five-year restraining order against him in 2017. He has also faced additional allegations and lawsuits throughout his career.

West and Brown are particularly interesting cases; both have faced controversies many believed would end their careers. Yet, they have built dedicated fanbases willing to follow them to the ends of the earth. Along the way is a road full of plausible deniability — ways to justify continued support.

Whether it’s the false notion that Chris Brown is being judged solely for his assault on Rihanna 17 years ago that we’re supposed to move on from, or the idea that Kanye West’s antisemitism was solely the result of a mental health crisis, fans always find a way to justify the behavior.

And there’s always a stadium willing to book them. 

While West and Brown have long considered themselves victims of a perceived cancel culture, Macklemore has actually experienced a cancellation. He’s the one sent home for how he expressed himself on stage.

Whether Kraft acted alone or as part of a broader effort to keep Macklemore off the tour, the result was the same: Macklemore lost tour dates, while artists such as West and Brown continue to play major stadiums.

Yet Kraft, who justified his decision largely on the grounds of antisemitism, hasn’t publicly shown the same urgency toward venues that continue to host West or Brown. That’s where this all gets murky. As sports owners transform their stadiums into concert venues and more artists use big stadiums for their shows, we are increasingly entering a world where the most powerful billionaires in sports will be inclined to take more blatantly political stances.

Kraft’s decision to ban Macklemore — and reports that other owners joined him — reminded us of the outsized influence sports owners can wield when they move in the same direction. On the 10th anniversary of Colin Kaepernick’s ouster from the NFL, it was also a reminder that no billionaire is truly nonpolitical.

Kraft has opened himself, and all of his business partnerships, to the scrutiny of his own past and politics. This scrutiny will only increase as owners take action — or inaction — in the face of acts that perform at their venues.

West is not scheduled to visit the home of Kraft’s Patriots. However, by the time his tour ends in November, he will have performed at seven NFL stadiums this year. What does Kraft do now if someone like Kanye West does come knocking?

But there’s a bigger picture here when it comes to musicians on either side of a protest.

Sheeran issued a statement calling his tour apolitical and shared his desire to keep going despite Macklemore’s removal. However, he has faced massive online backlash, and multiple opening acts have dropped out of future tour dates.

Though Sheeran’s bottom line might not be impacted — worth an estimated $500 million, he won’t be hurting for money any time soon — the global superstar is reaching a level of disdain he’s never faced before. While it may feel like a victory for people protesting for any cause to know that a massive touring star like Sheeran can take such PR and logistical hits, I’m not totally convinced.

Sheeran is low-hanging fruit at this point. While he is a superstar by all accounts, he does not carry the same intense fandom as, say, Beyoncé or even West. There certainly are no Sheeran “shooters” online defending him the way there are for Brown.

So while one may be heartened to know that a celebrity claiming to be apolitical should be held to a standard that requires saying something, I’m not sure if fans will maintain that energy for their favorites. The Chris Brown train has never stopped, and Kanye West’s stardom took only a temporary hit before bouncing back.

Far too often, fans excuse outrageous behavior from the stars they love, proving they are incapable of holding them accountable. So while people can take victory laps over making Sheeran feel the wrath of disappointment, would they take the same stance if they grew up loving him or were part of his hive?

The evidence and two of the tours happening concurrently with Sheeran’s seem to indicate otherwise.

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