Ed Sheeran asked me to donate $2m in aid, Robert Kraft says after Macklemore backlash

ByNardine Saad

The US stadium owner who had pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore removed as Ed Sheeran's opening act at his venue says Sheeran has asked him to donate $2m to "aid in the region".

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced the requested pledge in his second statement this week on the controversy, without specifying where exactly the funds would go.

Kraft confirmed on Monday he had Macklemore dropped as opening act from Sheeran's forthcoming Loop Tour at the Gillette Stadium near Boston, accusing the rapper of hate speech.

Facing a backlash, Sheeran has said the decision to drop Macklemore was made by promoters and that he would not be drawn into a public debate over Gaza.

On Wednesday, Macklemore said he would donate $1m to Palestinian organisations, challenging Kraft to match the sum.

In a statement later that day, Kraft, 85, said: "Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.

"Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges."

In the statement, which was issued by Gillette Stadium on Kraft's behalf, he said he would like those speaking in support of the Palestinian people to know that he has long "supported efforts that create opportunity for Palestinians".

He also said that he has worked to bring "young Palestinians and Israelis together to build businesses, create jobs, and forge relationships".

"I have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people," Kraft said. "I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting."

The owner of the Kraft Group, a sports and event management company, did not say whether he had rallied other stadium owners to ban Macklemore from their venues, as the rapper claims.

Macklemore - real name Benjamin Haggerty - called for a "free Palestine" and showed images of devastation in Gaza during two Sheeran concerts in New Jersey earlier this month.

He was dropped on Monday from Sheeran's line-up, just days before the tour was set to resume in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Sheeran, who performed at Kraft's 2022 wedding, said on Tuesday he was not responsible for Macklemore being removed as an opening act from the tour.

Kraft, who is Jewish, confirmed on Monday that he had made the decision to bar Macklemore from the Gillette Stadium because his venue would not "provide a platform for hate speech".

The tycoon accused the Grammy-winning rapper of having "a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric", which Macklemore denies.

He also said the pro-Palestinian artist was "only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas".

All the other support acts from Sheeran's US tour have since quit in solidarity with Macklemore.

They are Finneas, the brother of pop star Billie Eilish, Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe and Danish band Lukas Graham, as well as Irish folk band Beoga, who perform with Sheeran on stage every night.

The artists argued that Macklemore's removal represented a chilling effect on free speech.

Macklemore said on Wednesday he would donate the entire $1m of his net earnings from Sheeran's Loop Tour to six Palestinian organisations "to bring the conversation back to where it belongs: to the Palestinian people".

"This is a manmade injustice, and I believe it requires immediate political change," he wrote on social media.