Macklemore says a number of major U.S. arenas have turned him down for would-be dates on his Free Palestine tour, which recently wrapped its initial run overseas.
In a statement shared to his Instagram on Friday (Nov. 6), the Grammy winner, who was removed from an Ed Sheeran tour earlier this year following pressure from Robert Kraft and other venue owners, specified which arenas he says have refused to book him.
“From the beginning, our plan was to bring this tour home to the U.S.,” Macklemore said. “But after weeks of reaching out, nine major American arenas have turned us down.”
The arenas in question, according to Macklemore, include Madison Square Garden and Kia Forum, among others. After receiving a list of available dates from those venues in September, he added, those exact same dates were rescinded once venue reps learned that the shows would be benefitting Palestine-related organizations.
“In over twenty years of touring, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Macklemore said in Friday’s statement. “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.”
Plans for more Free Palestine shows will proceed, however, even if Macklemore and company have to just “take that shit outside” instead.
“There comes a point when the world changes, not because those in power give us permission, but because the people stop asking for it,” he said. “We will build our own stages. They may own the arenas. But they do not own the people who fill them. And they never will.”
See Macklemore’s full statement, also including a mention of Abdul El-Sayed’s pivotal Senate race victory, below.
