Macklemore names nine U.S. arenas he says blocked his 'Free Palestine' benefit tour
The rapper says venues including Madison Square Garden offered dates in September, then withdrew them once they learned the shows were pro-Palestine fundraisers. MSG says he's 'not an arena level act.'
Nine of America's biggest arenas — from Madison Square Garden to Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena — refused to host Macklemore's 'Free Palestine' benefit tour, the rapper alleged in a lengthy Instagram post on November 6, saying the rejections came only after venues learned the shows were fundraisers for Palestinian causes.
The full list Macklemore named: Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, UBS Arena, and Prudential Center in the New York area; Crypto.com Arena, Intuit Dome, and Kia Forum in Los Angeles; Chase Center in San Francisco; and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
By mid-September, we received available dates at these arenas through the end of the year. But once they found out these were my benefit shows for Palestine, those dates were suddenly off the table. The doors were closed. The conversations were all different, but the result was the same. These shows were not going to be allowed to happen in these venues. In over twenty years of touring, I've never experienced anything like this.— Macklemore, rapper
Madison Square Garden is the only venue to have responded publicly. Its reply, provided to Pitchfork, did not address the Palestine question directly.
We have some of the busiest venues in the world with extremely limited availability and he's not an arena level act.— MSG Entertainment spokesperson
Representatives for the other eight venues had not commented as of the latest reports. The allegations rest entirely on Macklemore's account; no independent confirmation of the venues' stated reasons has emerged.
The dispute is the latest chapter in a months-long conflict between Macklemore and the music industry over his public support for Palestinians. In early September, he made a brief onstage speech in support of 'the occupied West Bank' while opening for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium. Sheeran subsequently dropped him from the tour, saying U.S. venues had told him they would refuse to host the show if Macklemore remained as the supporting act. Shortly after, all four of Sheeran's other opening acts and his live band quit the tour in solidarity with Macklemore, according to the Guardian.
Following his removal from the Sheeran tour, Macklemore announced a standalone 'Free Palestine' tour and took it to Dublin, London, and Paris in late October — three sold-out arena shows that, according to the Guardian's review, featured more than forty artists and speakers. His post described those nights as 'three of the most beautiful I've ever been a part of' and said the plan had always been to follow them with U.S. dates.
The intimidation, manipulation and suppression I 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.— Macklemore, rapper
I'd rather lose every opportunity in this industry than spend another day protecting people who value their business relationships with Israel more than they value Palestinian human life.— Macklemore, rapper
Macklemore also pointed to the recent Senate victory of Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan — won on a platform that included ending what Macklemore called 'the genocide in Gaza' and halting U.S. arms sales to Israel — as evidence that public opinion is shifting. He wrote that AIPAC spent $42 million trying to defeat El-Sayed and still lost.
They may own the arenas. But they do not own the people who fill them. And they never will. FREE PALESTINE.— Macklemore, rapper
The rapper closed his statement by promising the tour would continue in some form — potentially outdoors — and that fundraising for Palestinian causes would go on regardless of whether major venues cooperate.
Why it matters — The standoff tests whether major U.S. venue operators — who control access to the country's largest concert audiences — can effectively silence politically contentious artists by denying bookings, and what recourse those artists have.
⚠ Not yet confirmed
- Venues withdrew available dates specifically because the shows were Palestine benefit events.
- AIPAC spent $42 million trying to defeat Abdul El-Sayed.
- according to CBC
Sources differ on Reason for venue rejections: Dates were pulled once venues learned the shows were Palestine benefit events — amounting to political suppression. (pitchfork.com (Macklemore's account)) vs MSG cites 'extremely limited availability' and says Macklemore is 'not an arena level act.' (pitchfork.com (MSG spokesperson))
Reported by variety.com, foxnews.com, pitchfork.com, theguardian.com, cbc.ca
