Radical anti-Israel rapper Macklemore is accusing arena venues including Madison Square Garden of refusing to host his “Free Palestine” concert tour.
“In over 20 years of touring, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Macklemore said, according to The Wrap.
The “Thrift Shop” rapper took criticism in September after weeks of anti-Israel comments on stage during the 2026 Ed Sheeran tour. He was eventually booted off the tour by Sheeran’s promoters for his Hamas-adjacent activism.
In the wake of his being fired, Macklemore announced his own tour, which he determined to call the “Free Palestine” tour.
“If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years. There has been a collective awakening around Palestinian liberation, the power of billionaires that try to censor that call, and what we expect from artists right now,” Macklemore wrote on Instagram.
“When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention,” he added.
All of the initial tour dates were in Europe. Now, the rapper is claiming that he can’t find places to perform in the United States.
“After weeks of reaching out, nine major American arenas have turned us down,” he wrote.
He named venues including Madison Square Garden in New York City, Prudential Center in New Jersey, Barclays Center in Brooklyn, UBS Arena in the greater NYC area, Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, Kia Forum in Los Angeles, Crypto.com Arena 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 rapper revealed. “The doors were closed. The conversations were all different, but the result was the same. The shows were not going to be allowed to happen in these venues,” the rapper said.
“In over 20 years of touring, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” he continued. “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.”
“We live in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech. Yet we’ve reached a point where a handful of billionaires can decide which causes are acceptable, which voices are welcome, and which human lives are worth defending,” he said. “Today it’s Palestine. What will it be tomorrow?”
The rapper, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, earned a backlash from audience members and fans who wanted a refund of their ticket after the rapper launched into an anti-American, pro Hamas rant on stage during Sheeran’s concert in New Jersey.
He was slammed for accusing Israel of “genocide” in Gaza from the stage at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Israel’s military has consistently warned civilians to flee areas where Hamas operates before the IDF attacks enemy combatants.
“I wanted to stand up here on stages across America and say two words that are near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine,” the “Thrift Shop” singer yelled to the audience.
As he ranted, the rapper wore a Palestinian Keffiyeh and the Jumbotron behind him flashed “Free Palestine” images.
He was even criticized by pop star Pink, who added her voice to the backlash against left-wing rapper by posting criticism of his actions.
While Pink did not add any caption to the criticism, she later explained why she reposted the attacks on Macklemore.
“I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund. What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘that scared me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I’m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed,” she said, according to Rolling Stone.
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