Entertainment · Music · 3 hrs ago
Macklemore Says Nine US Arenas Turned Down His Palestine Benefit Tour
Macklemore says nine major US arenas rejected his Palestine benefit tour after initially offering dates.
He named venues including Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center and Chase Center, across New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities.
He says the dates were withdrawn once venues learned the shows would benefit Palestine; the venues' responses are not included here.
The tour had already held three benefit shows in Dublin, Paris and London, which Macklemore described as successful.
The dispute follows his removal as an opening act on Ed Sheeran's tour after objections to his pro-Palestine comments.
The arena rejections raise questions about whether he can stage the US shows in major venues.
Macklemore says he will keep looking for places to perform, including outdoor spaces.
Macklemore says nine major US arenas rejected bookings for his Free Palestine benefit tour.
He says the venues withdrew available dates after learning the shows would benefit Palestine.
The arenas he named include Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center and Climate Pledge Arena.
Macklemore said he would keep trying to bring the tour to the US, including by staging shows outdoors.
The tour has already held benefit shows in Dublin, Paris and London.
- Who
- Rapper Macklemore says nine US arenas turned down his tour.
- What
- The arenas rejected bookings for his Free Palestine benefit shows, according to Macklemore.
- When
- He posted his statement on November 6, 2026. He said dates had been available by mid-September.
- Where
- Nine arenas in the United States, including venues in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
- Why
- Macklemore says the arenas withdrew the dates after learning the shows would benefit Palestine.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Macklemore was removed as a support act from Ed Sheeran’s tour after stadium operators objected to his pro-Palestine remarks, according to Consequence.
Macklemore says the arenas had offered available dates through the end of the year.
Macklemore’s benefit tour held shows in Dublin, Paris and London.
Macklemore posted a statement saying nine US arenas had turned down the tour.
- Arenas named
- 9
- US venues
- Madison Square Garden; Prudential Center; Barclays Center; UBS Arena; Intuit Dome; Kia Forum; Crypto.com Arena; Chase Center; Climate Pledge Arena
- European shows
- Dublin, Paris and London
- Statement date
- November 6, 2026
3 sources
What people are saying
But once they found out these were my benefit shows for Palestine, 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.
We’ll probably just take that shit outside where it belonged in the first place.