Macklemore has pledged the entire $1 million he earned from supporting Ed Sheeran on the Loop Tour to six organisations working to support Palestinians, and challenged billionaire Robert Kraft to match the donation.
The rapper, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, made the announcement in an Instagram post on 16 September, two days after confirming he had been dropped from Sheeran’s remaining US dates, NBC News reported.
“I will be donating the entire $1 million of my net earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to six organisations working directly to support the Palestinian people,” he wrote. “And I invite Robert Kraft to match my donation.”
The six recipients are the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugee (UNRWA).
The controversy stems from a speech Macklemore gave at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on 4 September, when he told the crowd he wanted Palestinians to know “we have not forgotten about them” before performing “Hind’s Hall,” a protest anthem released in 2024, Variety reported.
Stadium owners subsequently refused to allow Macklemore to perform at their venues, with Kraft, the New England Patriots owner, among those who raised objections. A rep for Kraft declined to comment on Macklemore’s request to match the donation, according to Variety.
In his own statement on 16 September, Kraft said the decision was driven not just by the MetLife speech but “a broader history of rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.” Kraft added that he has spent decades “directing resources” to Palestinians and that “standing with the Palestinian people and standing against Hamas, antisemitism and hate should not be mutually exclusive.”
Sheeran distanced himself from the removal, stating that “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision; it was not mine.” In a show of solidarity, all supporting acts on the Loop Tour, Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham and Beoga, announced they were dropping out.
Macklemore wrote that his focus would remain on Palestinian rights despite the personal cost. “Writing a check is one of the least costly forms of solidarity available to me,” he said, adding that aid alone cannot address the political conditions driving the crisis. “Palestinians have lived for decades without basic rights and should not have to wait another day to be free.”
He also referenced 15-year-old Muhammad al-Zinati and urged supporters not to follow the news cycle as it moves on. “When the news cycle moves on, which it will, don’t move with it,” he wrote. “Free Palestine.”
