Manhattan’s Waldorf Astoria was basking in blue light on Wednesday night as more than 800 guests gathered for the inaugural benefit gala of Robert Kraft’s Blue Square Alliance Against Hate. The sold-out event raised more than $32 million to combat antisemitism and discrimination, according to the organizers. 

The haul marks the largest amount the group has raised in a single night. With opening remarks by CNN commentator Van Jones, the program honored Bank of America Chair and CEO Brian Moynihan for his support of the organization’s work, and featured a video message from former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a member of Blue Square’s advisory board, who shared her personal experiences confronting racism and hate. 

Kraft, the New England Patriots owner who founded the organization, took the stage alongside former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop emeritus of New York. The trio reflected the group’s effort to enlist figures from sports, religion and business in the fight against antisemitism and hate of all kinds.

Hate “starts with antisemitism, but it doesn’t end there,” Kraft told attendees. “I believe that silence is hate’s greatest ally,” he said. “Silence allows hate to grow unchecked, at devastating speed. That is the premise on which the Blue Square Alliance was founded … I knew if we could find a way to reach people beyond the Jewish community, to educate them, inspire them and give them a simple way to stand with us, we could change the conversation around all hate.” 

An eclectic crowd filled the ballroom, where household names sat beside prominent figures from New York’s Jewish community. Spotted in the crowd were singer-songwriter Jon Bon Jovi; Disturbed frontman David Draiman; CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Bianna Golodryga; New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch; Speaker of the New York City Council Julie Menin; former CEO of UJA-Federation of New York Eric Goldstein; ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt; Yeshiva University President Ari Berman; Columbia University Hillel Executive Director Brian Cohen and Rabbi Berel Gurevitch, who leads Chabad West Village.

For all the differences in the room, from celebrities to rabbis to Wall Street executives, nearly everyone shared one accessory: the small blue square that is the organization’s symbol, pinned on lapels and gowns alike. The blue square pin has become a visible symbol of the group’s message, worn by supporters across religious and cultural lines. A video shown during the evening highlighted its reach beyond the Jewish community, including an Oklahoma City pastor who said he ordered 3,000 pins for his congregation.

Kraft founded the organization in 2019 as the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, launching the blue square campaign in 2023, looking to turn the blue square emoji into the symbol for Jewish solidarity and opposition to hatred against Jewish people. In October 2025, the group rebranded as the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, reflecting its effort to build a broader coalition of allies while continuing to focus on antisemitism. The expanded push came amid a sharp rise in antisemitism in America following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. The ADL recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents nationwide in 2024, its highest annual total in the 46 years it has tracked such incidents.

The gala also revisited the campaign that made the organization a familiar name beyond Jewish communal circles: its Super Bowl commercials.

Clips from the 30-second spots played at the event, as attendees chatted about the ads’ power to bring the fight against antisemitism to one of the country’s biggest cultural stages. The organization is perhaps best known for the high-profile commercials, which have also at times drawn scrutiny. Its first Super Bowl spot, in 2024, featured a former speechwriter for Martin Luther King Jr. urging viewers to stand up to antisemitism.

A 2025 commercial starring Brady and Snoop Dogg broadened the message to standing up to hate of all kinds, while this year’s “Sticky Note” spot depicted a Jewish student bullied at school and a Black classmate who covers an antisemitic slur on his backpack with a blue square.