Country singer Zach Bryan wore a defiant shirt during a gig at the stadium owned by Robert Kraft following the drama surrounding Ed Sheeran’s tour.

Rapper Macklemore was removed from Ed’s tour following comments he made during a show where he called for a free Palestine. Macklemore’s removal reportedly came at the request of billionaire Robert Kraft, who owns Gillette Stadium where Ed was due to perform.

It’s understood that Ed was told by Mr Kraft that if Macklemore wasn’t removed from the tour, then the gigs in Gillette Stadium wouldn’t be permitted; the concerts ended up being postponed earlier this week due to bad weather.

Playing at the stadium this weekend is country singer Zach Bryan — who played Slane Castle and Páirc Uí Caoimh earlier this year — and, in what appeared to be an act of defiance against Robert Kraft and the Kraft Group, wore a Free Palestine shirt as he played to tens of thousands of people.

Zach, whose hits include Something in the Orange and I Remember Everything, is playing two shows at Gillette Stadium. The second of his shows will take place on Saturday, October 3.

Macklemore made a passionate pro-Palestine speech during his set when he opened up for Ed Sheeran at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which saw him receive support as well as criticism from pro-Israel pop stars.

Macklemore was removed from the remainder of Ed’s LOOP tour following the remarks, which reportedly came at the request of Mr Kraft, whose holding company Kraft Group owns the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Following the removal of Macklemore, which caused intense backlash against Ed, the rapper donated $1million to aid in Gaza. The donation was doubled by Ed, who donated $2million and then urged Mr Kraft to match his donation. Mr Kraft later matched Ed’s donation to aid in the region.

The backlash against Ed following Macklemore’s removal saw the singer lose over 200,000 followers on Instagram, while his remaining opening artists pulled out from the tour in solidarity with Macklemore.

Mr Kraft confirmed that Ed asked him personally to match his $2million donation to aid in the region, saying in a statement: ‘Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2m (€1.75m) to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.

‘Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.’

Mr Kraft added that he ‘supported efforts that create opportunity for Palestinians,’ and ‘brought young Palestinians and Israelis together to build businesses, create jobs and forge relationships for decades.’