Macklemore Accuses U.S. Arenas of Turning Down Free Palestine Tour

When Macklemore announced his Free Palestine Tour—a run of benefit shows in Dublin, London, and Paris following his removal as Ed Sheeran’s opener —he promised U.S. dates were not far behind. But Stateside arenas, like their football stadium counterparts, are apparently less than enthused to book the rapper over his pro-Palestine comments. In a statement posted to Instagram on November 6, Macklemore accused nine venues of not allowing the tour to move forward.“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,” he wrote. “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.”The arenas Macklemore named were Madison Square Garden, Prudential Center. Barclays Center, UBS Arena, Intuit Dome, Kia Forum, Crypto.com Arena, Chase Center, and Climate Pledge Arena. Pitchfork has reached out to representatives at each venue for comment.“I’m three years past giving two shits about maintaining any relationships, business or personal, with anyone that isn’t riding for a Free Palestine,” the rapper added, noting that he will continue to look for spaces to perform. “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.”You can read his full statement below.Macklemore:Good day my people. A lot of you have been asking about U.S. dates for The Free Palestine benefit tour and I wanted to give you an update.The shows in Dublin, Paris and London were three of the most beautiful I’ve ever been a part of. Thank you to everyone who shared in those nights of joy, love and resistance. I left with a renewed sense of what’s possible when people come together for something bigger than themselves.From the beginning, our plan was to bring this tour home to the U.S.But after weeks of reaching out, nine major American arenas have turned us down.Madison Square Garden. Prudential Center. Barclays Center. UBS Arena. Intuit Dome. Kia Forum. Crypto.com Arena. Chase Center. Climate Pledge Arena. Here’s what happened…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.But this is not an isolated incident. For decades, activists, poets, writers, musicians and entertainers who have stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people have faced consequences for doing so. Many have paid a far greater price than I have.Looking back over the last three years, the only real regret I have is not speaking publicly when Zionists were kicking me under the table. At the time, I didn’t believe that centering what was happening to me was worth taking any attention away from the genocide in Palestine.But 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.But at this point, I’m three years past giving two shits about maintaining any relationships, business or personal, with anyone that isn’t riding for a Free Palestine.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.Today it’s Palestine. What will it be tomorrow?To these owners, the words Free Palestine represent a threat. Not because they endanger anyone, but because those words challenge the systems of power they have built their fortunes on.The tides are turning. Just three nights ago, Abdul El-Sayed won his Senate race on a platform that included ending the genocide in Gaza and stopping 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. 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 fucked up.There will be more shows for Palestine. We’ll keep working with other artists and organizers, continuing where we left off in Europe. We’ll probably just take that shit outside where it belonged in the first place.Our commitment to raising funds and standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people remains the same.There comes a point when the world changes, not because those in power give us permission, but because the people stop asking for it.We build our own stages.They may own the arenas. But they do not own the people who fill them. And they never will.FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸❤️✨