Ed Sheeran's backer responds after Macklemore challenges him to match $1m Palestine donation

New England Patriots’ boss Robert Kraft has responded after Macklemore challenged to match the $1 million donation to support Palestinian people.

Macklemore announced today that he would be donating his earnings from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour to six organisations that are ‘working directly to support’ people in Palestine: Palestine Children's Relief Fund, HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, UNRWA USA National Committee and Anera.

In a post on Instagram, he said that he wanted 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’.

Macklemore also threw out a challenge to Kraft, who the rapper previously claimed issued Sheeran an ‘ultimatum’ that saw him dropped from the tour.

Robert Kraft has said he'll be offering his own donation (Jane Gershovich/Getty Images)

He continued: "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. That is what this has always been about. Not me. Not a tour. Not the headlines or the controversy. It is about Palestinians' right to freedom, dignity and safety in their own homeland."

Shortly after Macklemore called on Kraft to make his own donation, the billionaire Gillette Stadium owner said he had already decided to make a hefty charity contribution after being contacted by Sheeran.

In a statement, he 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.”

The statement went on: “In addition, I’d like the people who are speaking in support of the Palestinian people to know that for decades, I have supported efforts that create opportunity for Palestinians and have brought young Palestinians and Israelis together to build businesses, create jobs, and forge relationships.”

Sheeran has since said it wasn’t his choice to remove Macklemore from his tour (Kevin Mazur/WireImage for MTV)

Macklemore and Kraft’s donations come as the remainder of Sheeran’s tour has been thrown into turmoil after its supporting acts quit.

Irish singer Aaron Rowe, who was featuring on the North American leg of performances, announced he was quitting the tour on Tuesday (15 September).

And was quickly followed by Finneas who told his fans that he was withdrawing from his upcoming planned tour dates with Sheeran and said he ‘stands with Palestine and its people’.

And the walkouts didn’t end there, Irish band Beoga also shared a statement saying they’d no longer be taking part and Danish pop band Lukas Graham confirmed it would be exiting the tour just moments after Finneas made his announcement.

Amid the media storm surrounding the tour, Sheeran issued a statement of his own claiming the decision to remove Macklemore hadn’t been made by him.

He said: “Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter’s decision, it was not mine. Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me.”