Macklemore names nine arenas he says refused to host 'Free Palestine' tour

Anthony Robledo, USA TODAYFri, November 6, 2026 at 10:53 PM UTC

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Macklemore is accusing nine major United States concert venues of refusing to host his upcoming "Free Palestine" benefit tour.

The "Can't Hold Us" rapper, 43, called out nine venues that he claimed had approved the concerts in September before learning the shows would benefit Palestinians.

"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," he claimed in a Nov. 6 statement on Instagram. "In over twenty years of touring, I've never experienced anything like this."

He continued: "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."

The concert venues included Madison Square Garden, UBS Arena and Barclays Center in New York; Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey; Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle; Chase Center in San Francisco; and Intuit Dome, Kia Forum and Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles County.

In a statement to USA TODAY, an MSG Entertainment spokesperson said, “We have some of the busiest venues in the world with extremely limited availability and he’s not an arena level act.”

USA TODAY has reached out to each venue for comment.

His remarks come after he was dropped from Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour over the rapper's vocal support for Palestinians, prompting artists to withdraw in response.

Robert Kraft, the billionaire whose Gillette Stadium was among the venues objecting to Macklemore's participation in Sheeran's tour, said the rapper's comments and actions contributed to the decision, and criticized him for not addressing Hamas' actions.

Macklemore reveals his 'only real regret' from the past three years

The Grammy-winning musician, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, said he is no longer concerned with maintaining business and personal relationships with "anyone that isn’t riding for a Free Palestine." He explained that he previously believed centering the conversation around him was not worth "taking any attention away from the genocide in Palestine."

"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," he wrote. "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."

His remarks come after he completed three sold-out benefit concerts at arenas in Dublin, Paris and London, which he said "were three of the most beautiful I've ever been a part of." He left each show "with a renewed sense of what's possible when people come together for something bigger than themselves."

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All proceeds from the concerts will benefit 12 organizations supporting Palestinians through medical care, humanitarian assistance, education, advocacy and community programs. The beneficiaries include Anera, Glia, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Taawon, HEAL Palestine, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Middle East Children's Alliance, Jewish Voice for Peace, Medical Aid for Palestinians, the Institute for Middle East Understanding, Palestine Children's Relief Fund and UNRWA USA, according to the 3Arena event announcement.

Macklemore said he always planned to bring the benefit tour to the U.S.

Macklemore says no opportunity is worth more than human life

The rapper said he'd rather lose every opportunity in his career than spend another day protecting people who value business relationships with Israel more than 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 wrote. "Today it’s Palestine. What will it be tomorrow?"

Macklemore said the words "Free Palestine" represent a threat to the owners of these venues because "those words challenge the systems of power they have built their fortunes on."

He also addressed artists who fear that saying "Free Palestine" could jeopardize their careers, acknowledging that he had struggled with the same concern before speaking out.

"But I believe that fear begins to lose its power the moment we realize we’re not standing alone," he added. "I dream of a world where saying Free Palestine is not controversial. It is expected. Where artists value their freedom of speech and collective liberation more than their brand deals."

Macklemore mentions Abdul El-Sayed Senate race win

Concluding his statement, Macklemore mentioned that Abdul El-Sayed's win in the race for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat is a sign that "the tides are turning."

He noted that the Democrat had campaigned on ending what he called "the genocide in Gaza" and stopping U.S. arms sales to Israel. He emphasized that billionaires depend on silence and complicity and mistakenly believe that they have "bought the people too."

"They forget that we buy their tickets. We fill their arenas. We build their empires. And we have the power to bring them down," he wrote. "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."

He confirmed that there will be more benefit concerts for Palestinians, writing: "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. Free Palestine."

Contributing: Paris Close and Anthony Thompson, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Macklemore names nine arenas he says refused to host 'Free Palestine' tour

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