Today's Poll Question: Should Robert Kraft Have Pressured Ed Sheeran to Remove Macklemore From His Tour?

0:00You ready to vote on today's Daily Pull question at smirkconnish.com. But first, Michael explains it for you right here. Welcome to the smirkconnish podcast from SiriusXM for independent minds. Again, last night, last night, live episode three of Can We Agree episode one was about democratic socialism and its place in the future of the Democratic Party. Great job, Nina Turner, great job, Tom Swazie. Episode two was whether and how to regulate artificial intelligence well done, Richard Clark, as well as Jennifer Huddleston. And then last night, we did it live. We did it live. Danny Savalos and Carlos Vega and yours truly hosting live on YouTube. Can we agree episode three, the subject, the holdout juror in the Clancy case, that twelfth juror, the 11 to one vote, is that person a pariah, is that person a hero?

1:00Should the Boston Globe have out of that individual? Hell no, my answer. And many of you agreed with yesterday's poll result. So please go to YouTube and watch it. And then you'll appreciate all the more the way people voted yesterday on the Boston Globe question. I like who's going to accept a jury service notice and show up and participate when you now run the risk that you're going to be outed in a controversial case. It's just one more reason for people to try and duck jury duty service. And I don't like that at all. Today's poll question on this Friday should Robert Kraft have pressured Ed Sheeran to remove Macklemore from his tour. Go vote on the question. I'll say something about it in just a moment. This is for Connish podcast from Syria sex exam. Fall is here. It's a great time to mingle at Parks Casino. Parks Casino is my casino of choice. It has been since it opened. Where they say, this is how you win because they've got it all going on there. The gaming action, the headline entertainment, the Liberty Bell beer garden,

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3:11The Daily Poll Question at Spirconish.com The non-scientific social political question, design to spark broader discussions about current issues. Get ready to cast your ballot. And leave a rating and review of this podcast on your favorite podcast app. Yesterday in the second hour of the program, we had a great conversation about the latest as it then existed, pertaining to Robert Kraft and Ed Sheeran and Macklemore. And then a great call segment and I said, we've got to have this as the poll question. So many diverse opinions, a complicated case, and I'm interested in it and I know you are as well. Let me quickly summarize with some of the new details or newer details from the Wall Street Journal. They reported on a phone call between Robert Kraft and Ed Sheeran. Quote, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft isn't usually in the business of vetting, supporting acts for concerts at his NFL team's home stadium. But last week when he caught wind that one of the artists booked to play Ed Sheeran's concert

4:14at Gillette Stadium was in his view using the Tour de Wacu's Israel of committing genocide, Kraft decided that he wouldn't remain on the sidelines. Kraft is the 85 year old billionaire who has a long standing relationship with Sheeran. The English musician had even played at his wedding in 2022. Interesting detail. Over the course of a 40 minute conversation, Kraft explained that he wouldn't host Macklemore, the outspoken American rapper at his stadium. More than that, several other national football league owners were also ready to cancel Sheeran's dates as long as Macklemore remained on the bill. See, I find this really interesting. It wasn't just Kraft. I could easily have asked whether NFL owners, but I thought people know the story is Kraft, and that's why I worded it the way that I did. Quote, by then the tight-knit circle of NFL owners, whose hulking mega venues host everything from sold-out concerts to world cup games had drawn a line in the sand. David Tepper and Arthur Blank, their respective

5:17owners of the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons, had made up their minds, people familiar with the matter said. Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Laurie would soon reach the same conclusion as the owners traded phone calls and prepared to address the situation. Kraft told Sheeran that while he felt for the Palestinian people and understood it was a complicated situation, he believed that Macklemore's comments constituted hate speech, not freedom of speech, according to a person familiar with the call. The real problem in the conflict he told Sheeran was Hamas. A U.S. designated terror organization, and he noted that Macklemore had previously been accused of anti-Semitism in 2014 for wearing a costume that featured Jewish stereotypes such as a beard and oversized hook nose. Macklemore apologized at the time, said that he didn't intend to impersonate a Jewish person, a spokeswoman for Macklemore declined. That is, to me, the worst part of the whole story. I'm

6:18going to play the audio for you. I think the audio... It's not that I would defend the audio. It's just that the audio that I'm going to play for you, which comes from the concert in North Jersey recently, is to me not enough to say, okay, bounce this guy. The costume, I look at that entirely different. So what is it that Macklemore recently said from the stage, according to the journal, the fracas began when Macklemore joined as an opening act for a pair of concerts in early September at MetLife Stadium, home to the Jets and Giants. Okay, so this is early September. This is a very recent. Macklemore's onstage comments during the first of those shows, which included saying, free Palestine and performing Hins Hall, caused immediate alarm. Representatives of several NFL owners reached out to the promoters to say that they had booked sheer and for an evening of entertaining fun, not to host a political rally with what they felt

7:18involved hate speech. One of the people said, they heard back that Macklemore would leave out any mention of the issue from his act. Onstage the very next night, here's what he said. I've been trying to figure out a way to say this all day. One of the reasons why I wanted to come on this tour was because I wanted to stand up here on stages and stadiums across America and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart, free Palestine. I said free Palestine. Listen to that. I want those words to be loud and clear. So the people from Gaza all the way to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten them. And this next song was inspired by the bravery of Columbia University students who led an

8:26encampment movement that mobilized the entire world, opened up hearts myself included. So thank you to those students that risked their diplomas, that risked their tuition, that risked their scholarships that stood up and said no. C U A D students, students for justice in Palestine and Jewish voices for peace. Thank you guys to all of my Jewish brothers and sisters. Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you. My message is for peace, love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality. So I say free Palestine. I say free Lebanon. I say free Cuba. I say free Congo. Free Sudan. Free all people in America living in fear over this terrorist organization ice.

9:32None of us will be free until we are all free. This song is called Hens Hall. This is where Konish podcast from Syria sex. Gang I am ditching the script for Quince because there's something I want to tell you that isn't in the script and it's this. I used to spend a lot of money on sweaters. I didn't have a lot of sweaters, but I spent a lot of money on sweaters and I have a moth problem. I've had a moth problem. Why did I spend so much on sweaters? Because I am spending T.C. I'm spending like 60 bucks at Quince. They're fabulous. They are so fabulous. I don't know how they do it. The cashmere. They're Mongolian cashmere. The Mongolian cashmere and my personal favorite are the T-shirts. They are under $50. My hand to God. I have seven of them. Okay. Well, I bought a bunch of sweaters. Seven different colors. I bought one and I was like, oh, this is now my staple. And even in this even this time of year at night, I wear a short sleeve cashmere sweater and I can buy four

10:33Quince sweaters. Correct. For one of the old moth eaten ones. And I'm wearing Quince jeans, right? This very second. Nice. Yeah. Nice. Find your next fall favorites at Quince. Download the Quince app for an app exclusive offer. Go to quince.com slash smirk. Honnish. Get free shipping on your order 365 day returns now available in Canada and the UK to q.u. I n c e dot com slash smirk. Honnish. The Daily Poll question at smirk honnish dot com. The non scientific social political question. Design to spark broader discussions about current issues. Get ready to cast your ballot. And leave a rating and review of this podcast on your favorite podcast app. Look, I'm not a macklemore fan. I don't know. Macklemore music. Macklemore rap. I've been in this position countless times because of the artists that I do like and patronize with whom I have political disagreement. Top of that list. I assume if you're listening to my podcast, you know about my history with Roger Waters. The fact that I interviewed Roger Waters

11:37for CNN by now. This goes back probably, I don't know, three or so years. The interview was pointed, but you know, I gave him chance to speak and I responded to him and it was a long interview. And when it aired on CNN, he was approving of it. How do I know that? Because he tweeted it out. So, you know, he agreed. And then all of a sudden there was blowback because of some of the comments that he made and he quickly accused me of editing the tape in a way that made him look bad. When to the contrary, I made sure that it was as lengthy as segment as time would allow, but people then were not buying tickets for his show. And he said that, you know, it was because of the interview that he did on CNN and essentially blamed me. I don't think that was even related to the CNN interview. Anyway, but my view is that, well, in the same way that I then go out and I nevertheless watch that tour in person with waters. But when it gets to the part where he's politically preachy, you know, that's when I go grab a beer because I'm there for the music. His response is

12:38to say, then you're really not paying attention to my lyrics because that's what my music is about. So I understand it. You know, the the boss springsteen just did this this tour, which could be his final tour. And one of the reasons I didn't go out is I just didn't want to be preached to. I'd rather I'd rather hear, you know, songs from incident greetings from Asbury Park. How's that? I was going to say incident on 57th Street. Anyway, in this case, in this case, Ed Sheeran says he didn't make the decision. He released a six slide statement posted to Instagram and he said, I'm appalled by the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The suffering and pain caused on both sides is a human tragedy. There are too many wars across the world, causing a measurable pain, none of which should be tolerated. And then Sheeran emphasized, Maccomor coming off tour was the promoter's decision. It was not mine. Maccomor's contract for the tour was with the promoter, not with me. And what has also happened is that all the remaining opening acts have now bailed on Ed Sheeran. Phineas O'Connell, Danish band,

13:43Lucas Graham, Irish band, Bioga, singer songwriter Aaron Rowe, they've all dropped out of the shape of you tour because of this whole kerfuffle. And I'm asking today at smirkhondish.com weather, Robert Kraft should have pressured Sheeran to remove Maccomor from his tour. Based on the words alone that Maccomor offered in that North Jersey show, I say the answer is no. When I read in and I found out there's a lot more to Maccomor including this costume than I'm really troubled. But having said this, it's now such a huge issue. And I just think it's rallied support in quarters that Kraft didn't seek to stir. You know what I mean? Like, did you hear that crowd that cheered? And now all these other acts are are bailing as well. I think that the net net of this is is not a good thing and that maybe it what the statement, the words themselves weren't

14:44in my opinion hateful. Maybe it should have just been ignored. Show's up in a costume absolutely not. Absolutely not. All right, you've heard enough from me. Go vote at smirkhondish.com on today's poll question, which asks should Robert Kraft have pressured Ed Sheeran to remove Maccomor from his tour. And then do me a favor, go over and look at YouTube and what we posted last night from Can We Agree? Great conversation about the holdout juror in the Clancy case. That's the third episode we've released so far. It is civil debate involving really smart guests of mine. And I moderate these conversations and the reactions have been fabulous. Thanks everybody. Michael smirkhondish for independent mind. Listen weekdays on Sirius XM's POTUS, channel 124 and anytime on the Sirius XM app. There is so much NFL on ESPN right now. Monday night football plus pregame and postgame. NFL live NFL prime time. Everything you need to stay on top of every game

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