Photo: Kristy Sparow/Getty Images
On September 16, two days after Macklemore was dropped from the U.S. leg of Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour after speaking out about the genocide in Gaza, the rapper announced on Instagram that he would be donating “the entire $1 million of his net earnings” from his time on Sheeran’s tour to six different organizations working directly to support Palestinians. On Monday, Macklemore explained that the decision to fire him came from Messina Tour Group, the promoter for the U.S. part of Sheeran’s tour, which was pressured by Robert Kraft, the owner of Gillette Stadium and the New England Patriots. Kraft rallied together several other stadium owners into withdrawing their venues from the tour if Macklemore had been allowed to perform. Kraft did not dispute this charge, but did invite Macklemore to sit down and discuss matters.
In the announcement of his donation today, Macklemore invited Kraft to match his donation of $1 million. “Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting.” The rapper also went on to reiterate his commitment to the cause, decentering his role in what’s transpired over the past few days. “Aid alone cannot address the conditions that make it necessary. This is a manmade injustice, and I believe it requires immediate political change,” Macklemore wrote.
Kraft responded with a social media statement of his own, claiming Sheeran (whom Kraft exclusively referred to as “Ed”) asked him to donate $2 million to “aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.” Kraft did not specify where this $2 million is going, or whether it would be to the same six organizations that Macklemore gifted. He also did not explicitly state he’d assented to Sheeran’s request. But he did say “Ed” was going to be reaching out to the other stadium owners to also donate.
In the days since Macklemore left the Loop tour, several other opening acts and Sheeran’s backing band have withdrawn from the U.S. leg of the production. In addition, many other artists, many of whom who are in no way affiliated with Sheeran or his tour, have weighed in. Massive Attack wrote that “no artist should tolerate the censorship of another artist,” while “Same Love” singer Mary Lambert testified on behalf of the quality of Macklemore’s character. Bella Hadid shared a post to her Instagram Story that read “I’d be loud and unliked than neutral and complicit” set to “Same Love.” Miss Rachel has posted many times, mostly about Sheeran’s silence, which he insisted was not the same as being complicit.
