This article has been updated with a new statement from Robert Kraft.
Last week, Macklemore said that he had been ousted as an opener on the U.S. leg of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour after calling for a free Palestine onstage. Now, the rapper has pledged to donate $1 million of his net earnings from the tour to six organizations supporting Palestinian aid. “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,” Macklemore said on Instagram.
The Ben artist also invited New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft to match his donation, which will be split between HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, American Near East Refugee Aid, Medical Aid for Palestinians, and the UNRWA U.S.A. National Committee. Macklemore has accused Kraft of pressuring Sheeran into removing him from the tour by threatening to pull his shows at Gillette otherwise, and encouraging other venue owners to do the same.
“Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting,” Macklemore’s statement continued. “A Palestinian life is no less valuable than any other life on this earth. That is what this has always been about.” In a response shared today, Kraft said that before Macklemore challenged him to match a $1 million donation, Sheeran requested Kraft “commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis. Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.” Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Kraft and Sheeran for comment.
In a prior statement to NBC News, Kraft confirmed he was involved in kicking Macklemore off the tour. “Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply hurtful offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line,” he wrote.
Sheeran detailed his own version of events in his own statement, claiming that the choice to kick Macklemore off the tour “was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine.” He wrote: “I am not complicit. I have my personal views on this devastating conflict. Just because I choose not to speak publicly, it doesn’t mean I don’t have them, and it doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
Since Macklemore announced his removal from the run, the remaining three opening acts on the tour—Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Aaron Rowe—and Sheeran’s backing band, Beoga, have all pulled out in solidarity. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)—a founding organization involved in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) initiative—has also called on Sheeran to cancel his tour completely.
Read Macklemore and Robert Kraft’s full statements below.
Macklemore:
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. 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.