Macklemore donates $1M to Palestinian aid organizations after Ed Sheeran tour fallout

Macklemore announced that he is donating the $1 million he earned opening for Ed Sheeran's U.S. tour to organizations providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians, prompting a public response from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

On Monday, the 43-year-old rapper was dropped from Sheeran's "Loop Tour" after he repeatedly called for a "Free Palestine" and performed his anti-Israel song "Hind’s Hall" during his opening act at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sept.

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Macklemore alleged that Kraft, 85, pressured Sheeran to remove him from the tour by telling the singer he would not be allowed to perform at Gillette Stadium and by rallying other stadium owners to issue a similar ultimatum.

Kraft later confirmed he opposed Macklemore's participation at Gillette based on what he described as the "Thrift Shop" rapper's history of antisemitic rhetoric .

ED SHEERAN SAYS HE TRIED TO ‘BUILD A BRIDGE’ OVER MACKLEMORE TOUR SPOT BEFORE VENUES SAID NO Sheeran, 35, has said the decision was made by the tour promoter and venue owners, not by him personally.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Macklemore shared his plans to donate his paycheck from the "Loop Tour" to six organizations including the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, UNRWA USA National Committee and American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA).

"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 wrote.

"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," he continued.

"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." "I want to center the parents carrying their children into hospitals without the basic resources to treat them, and the physicians, paramedics, journalists and aid workers who keep going back in.

I want to center the organizers and activists who have paid real costs for standing with Palestine," Macklemore added.

"Their risk is of a far different order than mine." HANNAH EINBINDER'S BRUTAL MESSAGE TO ED SHEERAN FUELS GROWING CELEBRITY REVOLT OVER MACKLEMORE TOUR DRAMA Macklemore noted that "writing a check is one of the least costly forms of solidarity to me." "I am doing it because I can and because these organizations are doing the work while much of the world debates it," he wrote.