Macklemore claims that nine major United States arena venues refused to book his Free Palestine tour dates, according to Rolling Stone.
The independent tour was organized after the rapper was dropped from Ed Sheeran's tour following objections by venue operators over his public statements regarding Palestinians in Gaza. Macklemore subsequently mounted successful sold-out performances overseas in London, Paris, and Dublin before attempting to bring the itinerary to North America.
According to Macklemore, tour routing originally secured open dates through late 2026 at major venues. He stated on Instagram that once venue operators discovered the performances were benefit shows for Palestine, the available dates were abruptly rescinded across all targeted sites.
The rejected venues named by the rapper include New York's Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, and UBS Arena; New Jersey's Prudential Center; Los Angeles facilities Crypto.com Arena, Kia Forum, and Intuit Dome; San Francisco's Chase Center; and Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena. An MSG Entertainment representative responded that its facilities maintain limited availability and characterized Macklemore as not being an arena-level act.