Macklemore Donating $1 Million Salary from Ed Sheeran Tour to Support Palestine: ‘I Invite Robert Kraft to Match My Donation’

Macklemore has pledged to direct the entire $1 million in net proceeds from his supporting run on Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour toward groups aiding Palestinians. In addition, the rapper issued a public call for Robert Kraft, the billionaire proprietor of the New England Patriots, to contribute an equal sum. This development unfolded only days after Macklemore was suddenly removed from the tour — a decision he contends was masterminded by Kraft. The friction traces back to earlier this month, when Macklemore gave a politically charged address and led a "free Palestine" chant while performing at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Since then, he has claimed that Kraft leaned on other stadium operators to keep him off their stages. A spokesperson for Kraft has opted not to respond to the donation challenge.

In an extensive social media post published Wednesday, Macklemore identified the six recipients of his net earnings: the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, Heal Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, UNRWA USA National Committee, and Anera. He said the recent upheaval had sharpened his sense of purpose. "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," he wrote. "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. And I invite Robert Kraft to match my donation. 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." For context, Robert Kraft, who has owned the Patriots since 1994, is also a prominent philanthropist whose foundation has donated extensively to Jewish and Israeli causes — a background that makes Macklemore's direct appeal to him particularly pointed.

The rapper emphasized his desire to spotlight those enduring the gravest conditions. He voiced a wish 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," along with "the organizers and activists who have paid real costs for standing with Palestine." Macklemore observed that their sacrifices dwarf his own. "Palestinians have lived for decades without basic rights and should not have to wait another day to be free," he went on. "That is where my focus will remain. I will continue to stand with the Palestinian people and their fight for liberation. When the news cycle moves on, which it will, don't move with it. Free Palestine." It is worth noting that UNRWA, one of the designated beneficiaries, has faced significant funding scrutiny in recent years amid allegations involving some of its staff — a controversy that has made donor support for the agency a subject of intense debate.

The rapidly evolving episode has made for a chaotic week for Sheeran. On Tuesday morning, the singer put out a statement maintaining that he played no part in Macklemore's exit and voicing a wish to stay neutral on political matters. Shortly afterward, every opening act on the Loop Tour — Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham, and Beoga — declared they were stepping away in solidarity with Macklemore and the Palestinian cause. The Loop Tour, among the top-grossing concert tours of the year, had been filling North American stadiums to capacity before the controversy took hold.