Kaepernick accuses NFL owners of colluding against Macklemore

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has accused league owners of colluding against rapper Macklemore after he was dropped from Ed Sheeran's concert tour following comments about Palestine.

Macklemore had been a supporting act on Sheeran's tour. During a show at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, he expressed solidarity with people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and called for Palestine to be free. Several owners of stadiums where future tour dates were planned, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, announced they would not allow Macklemore to perform at their venues. He was subsequently removed from the tour, and all remaining supporting acts withdrew in solidarity.

Speaking on the MeidasTouch podcast, Kaepernick said he saw echoes of his own experience in how Macklemore was treated. In 2016, Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and social injustice. Despite being at the peak of his career, no NFL team signed him after that season, and he has not played in the league since. He filed a grievance against the NFL in 2017, which was settled in 2019 under undisclosed terms.

Kaepernick said the episode showed that owners act to protect their own interests, power and money, and will target anyone who takes actions they disagree with. Kraft has said his decision to bar Macklemore stemmed from his recent actions and what Kraft described as a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric.

Kaepernick warned that others could find themselves in a similar position in future and urged people to take action now rather than wait.

Separately the same day, NBA player Kyrie Irving said he would cover an $11,492 fine imposed by the NFL on player Azeez Al-Shair, who used a banned face marking during a game to display the name of a Palestinian girl killed by Israel.