SEATTLE — Seattle native and Grammy Award-winning artist Macklemore will be donating $1 million of his net earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to organizations supporting the Palestinian people.
Macklemore, who was dropped from the tour after saying “Free Palestine” at a show last week, announced the donation on Instagram Wednesday.
“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,” he stated.
Macklemore calls out Robert Kraft to match donation
The artist also called out New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who, according to Macklemore, told Sheeran he wouldn’t be allowed to perform at their next tour stop in Gillette Stadium, owned by the Kraft Group. Macklemore said Kraft also rallied other stadium owners who threatened to block Sheeran from their venues if Macklemore stayed on the tour.
“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,” Macklemore wrote.
Macklemore was dropped Monday after telling the crowd a main reason he wanted to be on the tour was to say “Free Palestine” in stadiums across America.
Macklemore says Sheeran ‘couldn’t get past his public-facing, I don’t take sides’
In a post on Instagram Monday, Macklemore said Sheeran and his team decided to remove him from the tour. He added that Sheeran is his friend whom he has known for 13 years, and that his “typical apolitical stance was being challenged in a way it never had before.”
“He told me that the words ‘Free Palestine’ and the image of the Palestinian flag were hurtful to a lot of people he spoke with,” Macklemore stated. “I told him that if those words were more offensive than tens of thousands of Palestinian children being killed by Israel, then there was a fundamental disconnect between where those people stood and where I stood. But he couldn’t get past his public-facing, ‘I don’t take sides.’”
Sheeran responds, says it wasn’t his decision
Sheeran made an Instagram post on Tuesday, saying the decision to remove Macklemore was made by the promoter, Messina Touring Group, not by him.
“Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me,” Sheeran wrote. “I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living.”
Sheeran’s supporting acts drop out of tour
All four of Sheeran’s supporting acts on the tour subsequently dropped out in solidarity with Macklemore, The Guardian reported Tuesday.
“Artists must not be silenced when they speak up for the oppressed,” Singer Finneas wrote on Instagram Tuesday. “I have decided to withdraw from my upcoming tour dates with Ed Sheeran. I stand with Palestine and its people.”
Ed Sheeran is set to perform in Philadelphia at Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday.
Contributing: Jason Sutich, MyNorthwest
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