Macklemore says nine major US arenas refused to host his Free Palestine tour
Macklemore has said that nine major arenas in the United States refused to host his Free Palestine fundraising tour, according to The Guardian.
He named Madison Square Garden in New York City, Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. He also said that UBS Arena and the Prudential Center, both in the New York area, turned the tour down. In Los Angeles, the Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum did the same, and so did the Chase Center in San Francisco and the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Macklemore said that by mid-September he had been offered available dates at these arenas through the end of the year. Those dates were withdrawn, he said, once the venues learned the shows were benefit concerts for Palestine, meaning events held to raise money for a cause. According to the tour's website, all proceeds go to organisations supporting Palestine.
The tour had already taken Macklemore to Europe. It included a show in Dublin on October 26, one in Paris on October 29 and one in London on October 30, before the US leg was attempted.
Separately, Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran's US tour after making an onstage speech in support of Palestine in early September. Sheeran has claimed that US venues told him they would refuse to host the show if Macklemore continued as the tour's supporting act.
