Rapper Macklemore says nine of the country’s biggest arenas declined to host his planned “Free Palestine” tour, and he’s naming names.
In a lengthy statement posted to Instagram on Friday, the musician — whose legal name is Ben Haggerty — said Madison Square Garden, the Prudential Center, Barclays Center and UBS Arena in the New York area, the Intuit Dome, Kia Forum and Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the Chase Center in San Francisco and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle all turned him down. He said the rejections came “once they found out these were my benefit shows for Palestine.”
“In over twenty years of touring, I’ve never experienced anything like this,” he wrote.
Macklemore said activists, poets and artists who have spoken up for Palestinians have faced similar treatment for decades, and that his one regret from the past three years is staying quiet earlier.
“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.”
He added that he’s no longer concerned with preserving industry relationships. “At this point, I’m three years past giving two s—s about maintaining any relationships, business or personal, with anyone that isn’t riding for a Free Palestine,” he wrote, saying he’d rather lose every opportunity in entertainment than stay silent.
Addressing venue owners directly, Macklemore wrote: “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.”
Pointing to Europe and the midterms
Macklemore held up three sold-out shows in Europe as evidence of public support for the cause, describing “tens of thousands of people from different backgrounds, religions and walks of life standing together” alongside more than forty artists and speakers.
He also tied his message to the recent midterm elections, citing Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate win in Michigan. “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,” he wrote.
“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,” Macklemore continued.
He closed with a warning to the venues that rejected him: “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 f—ed up.”
Macklemore said he plans to keep hosting shows in support of Palestine, adding, “We’ll probably just take that s— outside where it belonged in the first place.”
The artist has drawn attention since September, when he was removed as an opening act on Ed Sheeran’s tour after making pro-Palestinian remarks at a Sept. 4 concert at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
