SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Chase Center is one of nine major American arenas that Macklemore said refused to book a date for his "Free Palestine" benefit tour. In a post on Instagram Friday, the rapper said that he had just completed a series of dates in Dublin, Paris and London, which he called "three of the most beautiful" shows he's been a part of.
"From the beginning, our plan was to bring this tour home to the U.S." Macklemore said. "But after weeks of reaching out, nine major American arenas have turned us down."
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In addition to Chase Center, Macklemore also said he'd been turned down by Madison Square Garden, Prudential Center, Barclays Center, UBS Arena, Intuit Dome, Kia Forum, Crypto.com Arena and Climate Pledge Arena.
"By mid-September, we received available dates at these arenas through the end of the year," he said. "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," Macklemore continued. "The shows were not going to be allowed to happen in these venues."
Recording artist Macklemore appears on ABC's "Good Morning America" Summer Concert Series in Central Park in New York on July 22, 2022, left, and Ed Sheeran appears at the premiere of the film "F1 The Movie" in London on June 23, 2025. (AP Photo)
Macklemore launched his "Free Palestine" tour after being ousted from Ed Sheeran's "Loop" tour after Robert Kraft told Sheeran he wouldn't host his tour at MetLife Stadium with Macklemore on the bill. Sheeran drew widespread backlash at the time while Kraft doubled down on the decision, issuing a statement that said in part, "Based on Macklemore’s recent actions, material shared from the stage during Ed Sheeran’s shows in New Jersey, and a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery that we believe has been deeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, we determined that his participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line."
In his lengthy social media statement Friday, Macklemore said, "I dream of a world where saying Free Palestine is not controversial. It is expected."
"There will be more shows for Palestine," he added. "We'll keep working with other artists and organizers, continuing where we left off in Europe."
