17 September,2026 10:06 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Macklemore (Pic/X)
Macklemore has pledged one million dollars from his net earnings from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour to six organisations supporting Palestinians, while challenging billionaire Robert Kraft to match his donation. The move comes days after the rapper said he was dropped from Sheeran's US tour following his pro-Palestinian remarks at a New Jersey concert.
"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," the Grammy-winning artist wrote on Instagram.
He challenged Kraft and further wrote, "I will be donating the entire one million dollars of my net earnings from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour to six organisations 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."
Macklemore said his focus remained on Palestinians' right to freedom, dignity and safety, while highlighting the struggles of families, medical workers, journalists, aid workers, organisers and activists supporting Palestine.
He concluded the note, stating, "But aid alone cannot address the conditions that make it necessary. This is a manmade injustice, and I believe it requires immediate political change. Palestinians have lived for decades without basic rights and should not have to wait another day to be free. That is where my focus will remain. I will continue to stand with the Palestinian people and their fight for liberation."
In response, Kraft issued a statement announcing that he and Sheeran would donate two million dollars each "to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis", without specifying which organisations or charities would receive the money.
American rapper Macklemore said on Monday he was dropped from pop star Ed Sheeran's US tour after his pro-Palestinian comments and "Free Palestine" remarks during a September 4 concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Pop star Ed Sheeran said the decision to drop pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore from his US concert tour was made by organisers, not him, after he failed to defuse the latest show-business furore over the Gaza conflict.
