After taking on American stadium owners who banned him from performing at their venues, Macklemore is now calling out a handful of prominent arenas that have allegedly blocked him from bringing his Free Palestine Tour to the United States.
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In a statement on Instagram on Friday (Nov. 6), the rapper updated fans who’ve been asking him when he’ll bring the charity trek — which so far has raised funds for humanitarian aid through shows in Dublin, Paris and London — to the so-called Land of the Free. “From the beginning, our plan was to bring this tour home to the U.S,” he wrote. “But after weeks of reaching out, nine major American arenas have turned us down.”
And yes, he named names. According to Macklemore, the following venues refused to discuss the possibility of hosting a Free Palestine show: “Madison Square Garden. Prudential Center. Barclays Center. UBS Arena. Intuit Dome. Kia Forum. Crypto.com Arena. Chase Center. Climate Pledge Arena.”
Billboard has reached out to all nine of the arenas named in the statement for comment.
“By mid-September, we received available dates at these arenas through the end of the year,” Macklemore explained. “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. The 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,” he continued. “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.”
The hitmaker also stated that he’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,” he added. “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.”
In the caption, he wrote, “Trying to silence us will only make the message louder.”
The musician’s latest statement continues a saga that began back in September, when Macklemore was dropped as an opener on Ed Sheeran’s tour for including “Free Palestine” demonstrations in his supporting sets. In response, the “Thrift Shop” rapper called out stadium owners such as Robert Kraft — whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium — for pressuring Sheeran’s U.S. promoters, Messina Touring Group, into dismissing him from the trek.
After donating the $1 million he made from his short-lived contract with Sheeran to Palestinian aid, Macklemore announced that he’d keep the momentum going with his three Free Palestine shows in Europe, which saw the likes of Hozier, Kneecap and Aurora take the stage as guest performers.
See Macklemore’s post below.
