The Tate is the latest organisation to say it will not be accepting further donations from The Sackler Trust after allegations that the foundation has been linked to the US opioid epidemic.
The Tate, with art museums in London, Liverpool and St Ives, follows the lead from the National Portrait Gallery in refusing funds from The Sackler Trust, a family foundation registered with the Charity Commission.
Maria Balshaw, Tate director told the BBC: “We have received money from the Sacklers in the past, before anyone was aware of the issues that the National Portrait Gallery has been looking at in relation to their donation.
“At the present time, we’re not in any discussion with the foundation about receiving a gift.
“And our trustees at the moment are minded not to accept one.”
In a statement, the Tate added that the Sackler family had given generously to Tate in the past, as it had to many UK arts institutions.
While it said it does not plan to remove references to the family's past philanthropy, "in the present circumstances we do not think it right to seek or accept further donations from the Sacklers".
UK arts turn against suspect money
The National Portrait Gallery said earlier this week that it would not be accepting a £1m donation from the Sackler Trust.
The decision was reached mutually with the trust and said, as reported in The Times, that this was “to avoid being a distraction for the gallery”.
The Sacklers are understood to be manufacturers of OxyContin, which is an addictive opioid painkiller used across the US.
The family deny allegations that their pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma pushed doctors to prescribe the product and misrepresented the risk factors involved with its use.
A spokesperson for the Mortimer and Raymond Sackler family said: "For more than half a century, members of the Sackler family have provided extensive philanthropic support to institutions in science, education, the arts and humanities.
“It is an honour to support the valuable work of these respected organisations, and we continue to do so.
“We deeply sympathise with all the communities, families and individuals affected by the addiction crisis in America.
“The allegations made against family members in relation to this are strongly denied and will be vigorously defended in court.”
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