Macklemore claims venues refused dates for his "Free Palestine" benefit tour
The Seattle rapper says nine U.S. arenas, including Climate Pledge Arena, declined to host his benefit shows supporting Palestine.
Seattle rapper Macklemore said his "Free Palestine" benefit tour was turned down by nine U.S. venues, among them Climate Pledge Arena. He posted on Instagram that the arenas initially offered dates through the end of the year, but withdrew them after learning the shows were intended to raise funds for Palestine. > "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 off the table," Macklemore wrote. He added that the cancellations were unprecedented in his two-decade touring career.
The list of venues he cited includes Madison Square Garden in New York, Prudential Center in Newark, Barclays Center in Brooklyn, UBS Arena in Elmont, Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, and Chase Center in San Francisco. Macklemore completed shows in London, Dublin and Paris in late October.
KOMO News has contacted officials at Climate Pledge Arena for comment but has not received a response. The tour has drawn scrutiny from Jewish organizations, which have asked concert promoter Live Nation to clarify its vetting process and the allocation of any proceeds from the benefit concerts.