Macklemore Dared Robert Kraft to Match His $1 Million. Kraft and Ed Sheeran Pledged $4 Million.

Macklemore challenged Robert Kraft to match his $1 million pledge for Palestinians. Kraft answered that Ed Sheeran had already called him, before the challenge went public, and asked him to commit $2 million to match Sheeran’s own donation for humanitarian aid in the region. Kraft agreed. Between them, the stadium owner and the pop star have now pledged $4 million, four times what the rapper put on the table.

The pledge, announced Wednesday, September 16, in a statement posted by Gillette Stadium, was the latest turn in a week-long fight that began when Macklemore was dropped from the remaining U.S. support dates of Sheeran’s Loop Tour, and which Macklemore has tried to frame as a billionaire silencing a voice for Palestinians.

How it started

Macklemore opened for Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on September 4 and 5. On stage, in front of images from the war in Gaza, he told the crowd, “I wanted to stand up on here on stages and stadiums across America,” and then said, “Free Palestine.” He then performed “Hind’s Hall,” his song honoring the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampments at Columbia University.

Early on Monday, September 14, promoter Messina Touring Group said venues on upcoming U.S. dates would not allow a show with Macklemore on the lineup, a standoff it said would have forced the tour’s cancellation and affected hundreds of thousands of fans. “Macklemore will not be performing on the remaining support dates,” it said.

Macklemore went to Instagram and put the blame on the New England Patriots owner. “Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium,” he said, adding that Kraft “had rallied some of the other stadium owners” to give Sheeran an ultimatum. He said that “taking a side can cost you,” listing money, brand deals and sponsorships among the things he had lost, and wrote, “there is no neutral position between the oppressor and the oppressed.”

Kraft named what the stage show left out

Kraft did not hide. In a statement the same day, he confirmed that Gillette Stadium had decided Macklemore’s participation in its September 25 and 26 concerts would cross a line, citing “Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community.”

Then he said what the rapper’s stage show left out. “This decision is not about diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf. Their pain and loss are real. But that advocacy should not come at the expense of the Jewish community or obscure the responsibility of Hamas,” which he described as a terrorist organization designated by the United States, Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Japan, “whose horrific actions have caused immeasurable suffering for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

Kraft even met Macklemore partway. “I agree with Macklemore. Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering,” he wrote, “but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate.” And he made the point the left most wants to deny is possible: “Standing with the Palestinian people and standing against Hamas, antisemitism and hate should not be mutually exclusive.”

He closed with an offer, not a threat: “I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Macklemore and discuss the facts, because ultimately our goal is the same — peace for all people, an end to suffering, and an end to all hate.”

The dare, and the answer

Macklemore’s response was to raise the stakes. He pledged $1 million from his net earnings on the tour to organizations supporting Palestinians and challenged Kraft to match it. “Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting,” he said.

It was a trap built for a headline. Refuse, and Kraft becomes the billionaire who would not give to suffering civilians. Pay up on Macklemore’s terms, and the rapper claims he shamed him into it.

Kraft took neither path. “I have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people,” he said, then explained that Sheeran had called him before Macklemore’s challenge: “Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis.” Kraft said yes, and said Sheeran “now plans to reach out to other venue owners.” Neither man has said which organizations will receive the money.

Sheeran, for his part, has said the decision to remove Macklemore was made by promoters and venue owners, not him, and that he tried to find a solution. “Those who come to my shows do not expect a political forum,” he said, noting that his audience includes young people and children of all backgrounds.

Why it matters

This is what a serious answer to activist theater looks like. Kraft, who says much of his time and attention for the last decade has gone to fighting antisemitism, did not pretend Palestinians aren’t suffering, and he didn’t let anyone pretend that suffering has no author. He has also said that, over many decades, he has directed resources to Palestine and created athletic and entrepreneurial opportunities for Palestinians he admires and respects.

Macklemore wanted a donation duel to prove who cares more. He got outgiven four to one, and the man he blamed for his removal was the one who said the word “Hamas” out loud.

Macklemore picked a donation fight to make Kraft look heartless, and Kraft answered with four times the money and the one word missing from the rapper’s stage show: Hamas.

More from The Rothman Report

Netanyahu Answers Obama’s Belfast Attack: ‘We’re Not the Belgians in the Congo, We’re Jews in Judea’Lifelong Democrat Sheriff Quits the Party After Locals Told Him to Leave for Backing Rogers and JamesTaco Bell Coworker’s Tip Stopped a Self-Described Neo-Nazi’s Alleged Plot Against an Aurora Hindu Temple