Kraft pledges $2m to aid after Macklemore donation challenge sparks tour controversy

Robert Kraft, the 85-year-old owner of the New England Patriots and operator of Gillette Stadium near Boston, announced on Wednesday that he would donate $2 million to humanitarian aid in the Middle East. The pledge came at Ed Sheeran's request, according to Kraft's statement, and arrived just hours after rapper Macklemore challenged the stadium owner to match a $1 million donation the artist had committed to Palestinian organizations.

The donation announcement marked Kraft's second public statement in as many days on a controversy that has upended Sheeran's Loop Tour. On Monday, Kraft had confirmed that his venue would not host Macklemore as an opening act, citing what he called the rapper's "hate speech" and "broader history of antisemitic rhetoric." Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, had performed at two Sheeran concerts in New Jersey earlier in September, where he displayed images of devastation in Gaza and called for a "free Palestine." The removal was set to take effect before the tour resumed in Philadelphia on Saturday.

Macklemore denied the antisemitism accusations and responded by announcing he would donate his entire $1 million in net earnings from the tour to six Palestinian organizations. In a social media post, he framed the donation as a way to redirect attention to what he called a "manmade injustice" requiring "immediate political change."

The fallout extended far beyond the dispute between Kraft and Macklemore. All four of Sheeran's other support acts—Finneas (brother of Billie Eilish), Irish singer-songwriter Aaron Rowe, Danish band Lukas Graham, and Irish folk band Beoga—quit the tour in solidarity with Macklemore. They argued that his removal had a chilling effect on free speech. Sheeran himself, who had performed at Kraft's 2022 wedding, distanced himself from the decision. He said on Tuesday that promoters, not he, had made the choice to drop Macklemore, and he declined to engage in public debate over Gaza.

Kraft, who is Jewish, defended his decision by saying his venue would not be used as a platform for hate speech. He also accused Macklemore of "only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas." In his second statement, however, Kraft struck a different tone. He said he had long supported efforts to create opportunity for Palestinians and had worked to bring young Palestinians and Israelis together to build businesses and forge relationships. "I have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people," he wrote. "I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting."

Sheeran, according to Kraft's statement, now plans to reach out to other venue owners with the goal of continuing to work together to "build bridges." Kraft did not clarify whether he had coordinated with other stadium owners to ban Macklemore from their venues, as the rapper has claimed. The $2 million pledge remains unspecified as to its exact destination, though Kraft framed it as aid "to fight this humanitarian crisis" in the region.