U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has added her voice to the chaos and the “geopolitical fight” surrounding the remaining U.S. dates of Ed Sheeran’s world tour, after Macklemore was dropped as the act and four other artists announced Tuesday that they were pulling out of the trek in support of the rapper’s right to speak out on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza.

From Ocasio-Cortez’s perspective, the controversy isn’t just about Macklemore, the fate of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, or the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. During an interview outside the U.S. Capitol, the New York City representative said it raises serious concerns about free speech and sets “a dangerous precedent.” She, too, raised concerns about reports that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had lined up other stadium owners to prevent Macklemore from performing in their venues and from expressing his views on an important global issue.

In clips played by Fox News and TMZ, Ocasio-Cortez said: “It’s not just what has happened with the act and not just in removing Macklemore from the lineup, but when you see what Robert Kraft did to line up all of the stadiums to censor speech in that one specific way, it’s become clear that this is not just about one music artist or two music artists, but this is about how just a handful of stadium owners and the elite can prevent an entire massive issue, in this case, the genocide in Gaza (from being talked about).”

Ocasio-Cortez said it might not “stop there,” with artists expressing views on this particular issue. “It could be speaking out about AI,” she said. “It could be speaking out about any issue that you can get a handful of stadium owners to ensure that an entire person’s career can be jeopardized if they speak out about any issue.”

The congresswoman admitted that she was not inclined to listen to Sheeran’s music at the present time, though she was hesitant to say whether she thought he was complicit in the controversy because she does not know about how much control that he has in decisions over his own shows, as Axios has reported. “I have have no idea what the financial entanglements of all of that is,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

For his part, Sheeran said Tuesday that the decision to remove Macklemore from his tour came from promoters, not him. On Instagram, he expressed his sadness and horror over the “suffering and pain” occurring on both sides in “the conflict between Israel and Palestine.” But the English singer-songwriter insisted he didn’t want his tour to be drawn into a public discussion about the war.

Unfortunately for Sheeran, his tour already is mired in this discussion, as Ocasio-Cortez also noted. While she expressed empathy for his situation, she suggested that the global superstar could at least speak out “about this abuse of power” when it comes to the suppression of free speech.

“If they’re saying that to him, then they can say it to anybody. And at what point does it stop?” Ocasio-Cortez said before pivoting back to the people she sees as most responsible: “Robert Kraft and, you know, the actual people who are who are kind of twisting things here. So, and again, everyone has responsibility in the situation, everyone plays a role, but we need to be very clear about how dangerous a precedent this is.”

Indeed, the controversy potentially raises First Amendment issues if it turns out that certain venues barred Macklemore over his statements, as Rolling Stone reported.

Macklemore was booked to appear at eight of the 10 shows left on the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s tour, which is set to resume Friday in Philadelphia, Rolling Stone reported. In addition to the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is privately owned by the Kraft Group, the other venues that allegedly objected to the rapper include: Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia; Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta; Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Most of these stadiums did not return Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.

In addition to Gillette Stadium, the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte is privately owned. But the others are owned and/or operated by cities, states or other government entities, which is where the First Amendment comes in, according to Rolling Stone. Government entities in the United States can’t be seen as restricting speech, no matter how objectionable that speech may be.

The Hillsborough County-owned Raymond James Stadium in Tampa had to grapple with First Amendment concerns earlier this summer, when it had to allow two Kanye West concerts to proceed, despite calls for cancellation over his past antisemitic statements, Rolling Stone reported.

The controversy over Macklemore’s First Amendment rights possibly being restricted began earlier this month after the Seattle rapper appeared as the opening act for two of Sheeran’s shows at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, as Rolling Stone and Axios recounted. At the first show, Macklemore said he wanted to do the tour so he could “say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: ‘Free Palestine.'” He also expressed solidarity with people in Gaza, showed images of the war-torn Palestinian territory and performed his protest song, “Hind’s Hall,” about pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University.

Macklemore’s remarks spurred immediate backlash and criticism from pro-Israel groups, who accused the rapper of ambushing fans with “anti-Israel propaganda,” Rolling Stone also reported. The singer Pink also voiced concerns. In a multi-part statement on Instagram, she said that as a Jewish person and “as a Jewish mom,” the rapper’s comments alarmed her, “and it scared people I love.”

At his second MetLife show, Macklemore addressed Jewish members of the audience, Rolling Stone also reported. He said, “Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you.”

Sheeran’s tour began to spiral out of control this week when news came that Macklemore was being dropped from the tour, Axios reported. The tour’s promoters, Messina Touring Group, told Rolling Stone that concert venues had threatened to cancel Sheeran’s upcoming shows unless Macklemore was dropped as the opening act.

Macklemore claimed on Instagram that Kraft put pressure on Sheeran and the tour organizers to drop him from the show, particularly ahead of the singer’s performance at Kraft’s Gillette Stadium.

“Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” Macklemore wrote. “Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: If Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.”

Kraft issued a statement, confirming that he had made the decision to bar Macklemore from performing at Gillette. He said his decision was based on “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.” Kraft, however, did not address the rapper’s claim that he “rallied” other stadium owners to pressure Sheeran into dropping the performer, according to Rolling Stone.

With Macklemore’s removal from Sheeran, other artists who were scheduled to open for Sheeran also withdrew, including Finneas, Lukas Graham and Aaron Rowe. Finneas, the singer-songwriter best known for his work with sister Billie Eilish, was scheduled to tour with Sheeran in South America later this year, but said on Instagram that “artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed.”

On social media, Danish pop artist Graham echoed Ocasio-Cortez’s concerns about rich and powerful business owners suppressing people’s ability “to speak about war, about civilians being killed, about children who deserve to grow up.” He added, “Money doesn’t give you the right to own the conversation. Nobody’s bank balance should decide who gets to speak or which suffering we’re allowed to acknowledge.”

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