Macklemore's Tour Earnings Pledge Sparks $1 Million Donation From Ms. Rachel
Rapper Macklemore's pledge to donate his net earnings from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour to Palestinian relief nonprofits has triggered a wave of giving, including a $1 million donation from YouTube star Ms. Rachel and matching pledges from other public figures.
Rapper Macklemore has committed his net earnings from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour to six Palestinian relief organizations after being dropped from the tour for making pro-Palestinian comments onstage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The pledge, announced in a Wednesday social media post, was intended to «bring the conversation back to where it belongs» — the Palestinian people — following a turbulent 48-hour period in which four supporting acts quit in solidarity and confusion swirled over who bore responsibility for the decision.
The donation recipients include Medical Aid for Palestinians, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, and UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. For these nonprofits, the Grammy winner's contribution represents more than just a financial windfall. Leaders say it has renewed public awareness of the perilous living conditions faced by the Palestinian people they serve daily.
«Even if you don't see bombs falling every night, the rubble is still there,» said Alicia Phillips Mandaville, acting CEO of Anera, one of the beneficiary organizations. «And the traumatized children are still traumatized.»
Tareq Hailat, director of strategic engagement at the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, described a constant stream of pleas for help from Gaza. «There's this notion that there's a ceasefire. But it's not true. There are children dying every single day,» he said. «So to have this attention on it is incredible.»
Israeli operations have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians since a fragile ceasefire took effect last October, according to the source material. Hundreds of thousands struggle to access healthcare in the West Bank, and water shortages persist. The world's leading authority on food insecurity warned in July that most Gaza families still were not getting nearly enough to eat even as Israel allowed more aid to enter.
The Palestine Children's Relief Fund medically evacuates children who cannot get needed care because of crumbling healthcare infrastructure and flies outside physicians into Gaza to treat others. Hailat said the nonprofit will place its share of Macklemore's gift into an unrestricted fund, allowing leaders to direct money fluidly as circumstances evolve.
Anera, a humanitarian aid group working in Palestine, Lebanon, and Jordan, similarly noted its donation came with no requirements on how to use the money. Mandaville said that flexibility is critical when «the way people live» and «the rules we work inside» change on a monthly basis. «If there's flooding again this year like there was last year, we can deal with that. If there is an acute hunger crisis again, like there has been in the past, we can meet that,» she said. «We can buy more blankets because people want their grandparents to be warm at night.»
This week's gift was not Macklemore's first contribution to some of these organizations. The rapper has long advocated for Palestinians, previously pledging proceeds and streaming royalties from his protest anthems «Hind's Hall» and «Hind's Hall 2» to UNRWA. More than $509,000 has come through those royalties, according to UNRWA USA CEO Mara Kronenfeld. «He has been contributing to saving probably hundreds of thousands of lives in Gaza through his contributions already,» she said.
The latest donation is already catalyzing further gifts. Ms. Rachel, a YouTube star and music teacher, announced Thursday that she would donate $1 million to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund and called on others to match the gift. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft — whose Kraft Group also owns Gillette Stadium, where Sheeran is scheduled to perform later this month — said in a Wednesday Instagram post that he would match Sheeran's own $2 million donation for aid «in the region.» The post did not specify the recipients.
Macklemore has said his removal resulted from an effort led by Kraft. Kraft said in a statement Monday that the decision to cancel Macklemore stemmed from the rapper's recent comments «and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.» Macklemore has asserted that criticism of the Israeli government should not be conflated with antisemitism.
Everyday donors appear to be joining the effort. Online progressive influencers have helped raise more than $72,000 for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. Anera reported that donations received Wednesday through social media platforms were more than triple this month's daily average, and the nonprofit gained more than 8,000 followers since Macklemore tagged its account.
Mandaville hopes the exposure will introduce new, younger audiences to the nonprofit's work. «I would guess that our traditional donor does not know the lyrics to 'Thrift Shop,'» she said, referencing Macklemore's breakout 2012 hit.
UNRWA USA's Kronenfeld said the spike reflects an existing trend. Her organization has gained 203,000 donors since October 2023, allowing it to send more than $117 million. «The contributions keep coming in because Americans care,» she said. «It will increase that much more with Macklemore's extremely humane gesture.»
