Macklemore took to Instagram on Friday to accuse nine major U.S. music venues of refusing to host his “Free Palestine” charity tour, emphasizing, “In over 20 years of touring, I’ve never experienced anything like this.”
The rapper began his update by shouting out his recent “Free Palestine” shows in Dublin, Paris and London, calling them “three of the most beautiful I’ve ever been a part of” and thanking everyone who came and “shared in those nights of joy, love and resistance.” However, he said his original plan to bring the tour stateside has run into issues.
“After weeks of reaching out, nine major American arenas have turned us down,” he wrote. Macklemore went on to name the specific venues that have allegedly turned him and his team away, despite having availability in the coming months: 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.
Representatives for the nine venues did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
“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.”
“In over 20 years of touring, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” he wrote. “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 continued. “Today it’s Palestine. What will it be tomorrow?”
The rapper’s remarks came nearly two months after he was removed as an opening act on Ed Sheeran’s Loop tour over pro-Palestinian comments he’d previously made on stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft purportedly led the charge to have Macklemore removed from the tour by allegedly threatening to block Sheeran’s shows at his venues if the rapper remained on the bill.
Sheeran came under heavy fire for acquiescing to Kraft’s demands, including from YouTuber Ms. Rachel, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder. The Loop tour’s other openers, Aaron Rowe, Lukas Graham and Finneas, as well as Sheeran’s own backing band Beoga, all dropped out over the controversy.
Macklemore responded to the scandal by launching his “Free Palestine” tour, aimed toward raising funds for Palestinian relief groups. In October, he performed three sold-out shows in Dublin, Paris and London, where he was joined by artists like Hozier, Paloma Faith, Kneecap and Portugal the Man.
“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 s—t outside where it belonged in the first place,” he wrote near the end of his statement Friday. “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 will build our own stages,” he vowed.
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