Macklemore recently wrapped up his European ‘Free Palestine Tour’ with sold-out benefit shows in Dublin (October 26), Paris (October 29), and London (October 30, 2026). It seems that none of the future shows will be set in the US for the time being. In one of his latest social media posts, the rapper and singer revealed that while many US venues were approached to host the concerts, every single one of them rejected Macklemore’s offers.
Macklemore says 9 venues in the US rejected his ‘Free Palestine’ tour concerts
Macklemore started his post by writing, “The shows in Dublin, Paris, and London were three of the most beautiful I’ve ever been a part of. Thank you to everyone who shared in those nights of joy, love, and resistance. I left with a renewed sense of what’s possible when people come together for something bigger than themselves.”All of the benefits from the concerts, which are currently sold out in Europe, will go toward helping the Palestinian people in Gaza. The ‘Thrift Shop’ rapper continued that his “plan was to bring this tour home to the US,” adding, “But after weeks of reaching out, nine major American arenas have turned us down.” He also provided a list of all the venues that rejected his appeal for a concert. The list included one of the biggest and most sought-after arenas, Madison Square Garden, as well as Prudential Center, Barclays Center, UBS Arena, Intuit Dome, Kia Forum, Crypto.com Arena, Chase Center, and Climate Pledge.He wrote that his team had been planning to book all the venues by the end of 2026, but issues arose when they found out the concerts would be for his ‘Free Palestine’ tour. “But once they found out these were my benefit shows for Palestine, those dates were suddenly off the table,” he added. He also wrote, “In over twenty years of touring, I’ve never experienced anything like this.”He concluded the post by writing, “There comes a point when the world changes, not because those in power give us permission, but because the people stop asking for it. 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.”MSG recently stated this after Macklemore’s statement went viral. Talking to PEOPLE, they stated, “We have some of the busiest venues in the world with extremely limited availability, and he’s not an arena-level act.”The tour followed Macklemore’s claim that Ed Sheeran removed him from a tour for making comments about Palestine during a segment while touring with ‘Shape of You.’ While Sheeran faced a lot of backlash over the matter, he denied most of the allegations and shared his own statement.Sheeran said, “Macklemore’s contract for the tour was with the promoter, not me. I would never let down the fans who had made plans, nor would I abandon the touring crew and the other support acts and musicians who rely on me for work and to make a living.”As of right now, the musician does not have any scheduled concerts.
