When Macklemore announced his Free Palestine tour – a series of benefit shows in Dublin, London and Paris following his withdrawal from the opening role for Ed Sheeran – he promised the US dates wouldn’t be far behind. But American arenas, like their football stadium counterparts, apparently aren’t too keen on criticizing the rapper for his pro-Palestinian 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 pushed aside,” he wrote. “The doors were closed. The conversations were all different, but the outcome was the same. These shows were not going to happen in these venues. In over twenty years of touring, I have never experienced anything like this.”
The arenas named by Macklemore 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 contacted representatives for each site for comment. So far, only The Garden has responded, with a typically mean-spirited statement: “We have some of the busiest venues in the world with extremely limited availability and he is not an arena-level performer.” »
“For three years I don’t care about maintaining relationships, professional or personal, with anyone who doesn’t ride for a free Palestine,” the rapper added, noting that he will continue to seek out spaces to perform. “I would rather lose every opportunity in this industry than spend another day protecting people who value their business relationship with Israel more than Palestinian human life. »
You can read his full statement below.
Macklemore:
Have a good day my people. Many of you have been asking about the dates for The Free Palestine US benefit tour and I wanted to give you an update.
The shows in Dublin, Paris and London were three of the finest I have ever been to. Thank you to everyone who shared these nights of joy, love and resistance. I came away with a renewed sense of what is possible when people come together for something bigger than themselves.
From the beginning, our plan was to bring this tour back to the United States.
But after weeks of contact, nine major American arenas refused our offer.
Gn entert
