Macklemore to donate $1M from Sheeran tour to Palestinian aid

US rapper Macklemore announced Wednesday he will donate the entire $1 million earned from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to six organizations supporting Palestinians, inviting New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to match the funds days after being removed from the lineup over his on-stage advocacy for Gaza. Macklemore, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, said in a statement on Instagram that the donation was not about himself or the controversy.

“I want to center the parents carrying their children into hospitals without the basic resources to treat them, and the physicians, paramedics, journalists and aid workers who keep going back in,” he wrote. He cited the killing of Palestinian teenager Muhammad al-Zinati in an Israeli strike while rushing to help an injured person, stating “He was a child. Both were murdered. Both should be alive.”

Tour removal

Macklemore was dropped from Sheeran’s US tour after exclaiming “Free Palestine!” and performing his protest song “Hind’s Hall” during a concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month. Kraft confirmed Monday that he had pressured Sheeran to remove the rapper from the tour, barring him from performing at the Patriots-owned Gillette Stadium over what he called Macklemore’s “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.”

The Grammy-winning artist addressed Kraft directly in his statement, saying “Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting.” He added that “aid alone cannot address the conditions that make it necessary,” describing the situation as a “manmade injustice” that requires immediate political change and noting Palestinians “should not have to wait another day to be free.”

Sheeran’s response

Sheeran said the decision was made by tour venues and promoters rather than himself, writing on Instagram that he prefers to keep his platform “a place of safety and sanctuary” rather than “a political forum.” Macklemore said Sheeran, whom he described as a friend of 13 years, told him that Kraft had organized a boycott among other stadium owners unless he was dropped from the lineup.