Macklemore to donate $1 million tour earnings to Gaza relief

US rapper Macklemore has said he will donate the $1 million he earned as an opening act on Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour to six organisations working with Palestinians and providing relief in Gaza.

The announcement comes days after Macklemore was removed from the tour following backlash over his public comments in support of Palestinians, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The Grammy-winning artist also challenged Robert Kraft, billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and a prominent donor to Israel, to match the donation. Kraft had opposed Macklemore performing at Gillette Stadium near Boston.

“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," the rapper announced. 

Kraft subsequently issued a statement saying that Sheeran had “called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis”. He did not specify which organisations or charities would receive the money.

Macklemore made his comments during a two-minute speech at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month, saying he wanted to see a “free Palestine.”

“I want those words to be loud and clear, so that people all the way in Gaza to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten about them,” he said.

His remarks prompted a petition by the Israeli-American Council calling for him to be removed from Sheeran’s tour.

Sheeran later said he wanted to remain publicly neutral on political causes. According to the singer, Kraft and several other venue owners told him that his tour could not perform at their stadiums if Macklemore remained an opening act, leading to Macklemore’s removal.

The controversy also prompted all four of Sheeran’s remaining opening acts — Finneas, Aaron Rowe, Beoga and Lukas Graham — to withdraw from the Loop tour in solidarity with Macklemore and Palestinians.

By Sabina Mammadli