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Children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel has vowed to donate $1 million to charity in the wake of Macklemore being dropped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour over his public support for Palestinians.
“I will match Macklemore’s donation and I invite every white celebrity to match and speak out against the genocide in Gaza,” Ms. Rachel, 43, announced via Instagram on Thursday, September 18, in response to the rapper’s own $1 million charity pledge.
She continued, “Over 20,000 precious Palestinian children have been killed and children continue to be killed every day. We have a moral obligation to use our privilege and platforms to protect children and human rights.”
A United Nations report issued in June stated that 20,000 children have been killed and more than 44,000 others have been injured in the region since the October 7, 2023, terror attacks.
Ms. Rachel (full name Rachel Anne Accurso) clarified that “the million” she is donating will specifically go to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, an organization for which she is an international ambassador.
The Netflix star has stood firm in her stance since announcing her donation, urging people to “stop being racist and care that over 20,000 kids in Gaza were killed and that children continue to be killed.”
“Understand that everyone is outraged because killing thousands and thousands of kids is so obviously wrong and horrific,” she wrote via Instagram on Friday, September 18. “We’re not going away and we are not going to stop saying not to use our tax dollars to hurt and kill kids and people.”
Ms. Rachel has frequently used her platform to speak out publicly about political causes, including visiting families of detainees being held at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey. She has also campaigned in Washington, D.C., for urgent action to end family detention centers for migrants in ICE custody.
Her latest political stance came about in the wake of Macklemore (real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty) being dropped as a support act from Sheeran’s Loop Tour for declaring “free Palestine” on stage at two New Jersey concerts last week.
Pink drew attention to his comments by sharing a post from StopAntisemitism that accused Macklemore, 43, of spreading “anti-Israel propaganda.” When her post went viral, Pink clarified her stance in a blog released on Rosh Hashanah, the start of the Jewish year.
“Of course I don’t speak for Israel, or for any government. I never have. What I said in October 2023 is still exactly what I believe: Hamas is a terrorist organization,” Pink, 47, wrote. “Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations. Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child. Anybody’s child.”
Ed Sheeran and Macklemore Ethan Miller/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
The singer went on, “I’ve spent a decade as a UNICEF ambassador for kids who didn’t choose the country or the war they were born into, and I have grieved every one of them, on both sides of that fence. I didn’t do it from behind a screen; I went to those children and held them. I’m not going to litigate a complex war in an Instagram caption, and I’m not going to recite anybody’s slogan to earn back a follower.”
Within days, Macklemore was removed from Sheeran’s tour — leading to fellow support acts Finneas, Lukas Graham, Aaron Rowe and Beoga dropping out in solidarity.
Macklemore reacted to being axed by insisting that he’d already accomplished his goal of bringing more awareness to the plight of the Palestinian people.
“I didn’t need 10 shows from Ed. I needed 2,” he stressed via Instagram on Monday, September 14. “Two chances to stand in front of 90,000 people and say the words that somehow became too dangerous to say. Free Palestine. But if those words cost me the stage, while turning the conversation back to Palestine, then it was the most successful tour I’ve ever been on.”
The rapper expressed hope that the controversy would not end his 13-year friendship with Sheeran.
“I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world,” he added in his statement. “Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.”
Sheeran, 35, broke his silence on Tuesday, September 15, explaining that it was the “promoter’s decision” — not his — to remove Macklemore from his tour.
“I have spent this week trying to build bridges, to find a solution and unfortunately, was unable to do so,” Sheeran insisted. “I know who I am, both as a person and as an artist, and those who know my heart know my values too.”
The musician indicated that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was not comfortable continuing with an upcoming concert at his venue, Gillette Stadium, provided Macklemore was kept on the bill, adding that other venue owners felt the same.
Kraft, 85, subsequently told ESPN that the possibility of Macklemore making statements about the Israel-Palestine conflict at Gillette Stadium “would cross that line” following an alleged “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery.”
Macklemore subsequently challenged Kraft — and other wealthy celebrities — to match his $1 million donation to six organizations that support Palestinians. (Kraft later said that Sheeran also reached out to ask him to “commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region.”)
