Macklemore Pledges $1M Of Ed Sheeran’s Derailed Tour Earnings To Palestine & Challenges Robert Kraft

Macklemore is putting $1 million behind his Palestine advocacy, pledging his entire net earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to aid groups.

The rapper announced the donation Wednesday in a five-panel Instagram statement, two days after confirming he had been removed from Sheeran’s remaining U.S. dates.

“With everything that has happened over the last 48 hours, I want to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people who are still being killed, still living under military occupation, and still fighting for their freedom.”

“I will be donating the entire $1 million of my net earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to six organizations working directly to support the Palestinian people.”

He also challenged New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to match the contribution, extending their dispute beyond the stadiums that preceded his exit.

“Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting. A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth.”

“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. I want to center the organizers and activists who have paid real costs for standing with Palestine. Their risk is of a far different order than mine.”

The latest move follows a confrontation that began after Macklemore opened for Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on September 4 and 5.

During those performances, Macklemore wore a keffiyeh, displayed images from Gaza and introduced “Hind’s Hall” while telling the stadium crowd, “Free Palestine.”

AllHipHop previously reported that the Israeli-American Council launched a petition demanding his removal after the performances and his continued statements about Gaza.

Macklemore later said Sheeran told him Kraft would not allow him to perform at Gillette Stadium and had contacted other stadium owners.

Messina Touring Group then confirmed multiple venues would not host upcoming shows with Macklemore on the bill, leaving the promoter to remove him from the remaining dates.

Kraft publicly defended his position, saying Gillette Stadium would not provide a platform for what he described as hate speech and antisemitic rhetoric.

He also said the decision was not meant to diminish Palestinian suffering, and offered to meet Macklemore for a direct conversation.

Sheeran answered the controversy Tuesday and said Macklemore’s removal came from the promoter and venues after stadium operators threatened to pull scheduled concerts.

“Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision; it was not mine,” Sheeran wrote, adding that Macklemore’s agreement was with the promoter.

Sheeran said he had spoken with Kraft, promoters and activists while trying to preserve the concerts without abandoning workers and other musicians.

He also said he keeps his professional platform largely apolitical because he wants his shows to remain spaces where audiences can come together.

The dispute widened Tuesday when every announced supporting act for the remaining tour dates withdrew after Macklemore’s removal.

Finneas canceled six planned South American appearances and wrote that artists should not be silenced when speaking for people they believe are oppressed.

Irish singer Aaron Rowe also withdrew, while Danish group Lukas Graham said money should not determine whether artists can speak about civilian deaths.

Beoga, the Irish group that had been serving as Sheeran’s touring band, also left while saying its friendship with Sheeran would continue.

The Associated Press reported Sheeran was heading toward the tour’s September 19 return in Philadelphia without the previously announced supporting lineup.

Macklemore’s new statement returned attention to Palestinians and cited 15-year-old Muhammad al-Zinati.

“Writing a check is one of the least costly forms of solidarity available to me. I am doing it because I can, and because these organizations are doing the work while much of the world debates it.”

He added that aid cannot solve the political conditions driving the crisis and said his public focus would remain on Palestinian rights.

“But aid alone cannot address the conditions that make it necessary. This is a manmade injustice, and I believe it requires immediate political change. Palestinians have lived for decades without basic rights and should not have to wait another day to be free.”

Macklemore closed his five-panel statement by returning to the same two-word message that started the controversy: “Free Palestine.”