American rapper Macklemore, a vocal critic of the war in Gaza, said on Friday that some of the biggest concert venues in the United States, among them New York's Madison Square Garden, turned down bookings for his Free Palestine tour, which recently wrapped up three performances in Europe.
The musician, best known for the hit "Thrift Shop," started the tour after being dropped in August as the opening act on Ed Sheeran's concert run. Macklemore said at the time that stadium owners had taken issue with him declaring "Free Palestine" during his performances.
Writing on social media, Macklemore said nine US venues have now refused to let him book open dates through the end of the year. Along with Madison Square Garden, the list includes the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.
"The shows were not going to be allowed to happen in these venues," he said in a post. "In over 20 years of touring, I've never experienced anything like this."
A spokesperson for MSG Entertainment, the company behind Madison Square Garden and several other properties, pushed back on the suggestion of a political motive. The spokesperson described its sites as among "the busiest venues in the world with extremely limited availability" and said Macklemore is "not an arena-level act."
Representatives for the Kia Forum did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The rapper's Free Palestine shows in Dublin, Paris, and London were staged to raise money for organizations that support the Palestinian people. He said he intends to partner with other artists and organizers to put on additional performances for the cause.
"We live in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech," he wrote. "Yet we've reached a point where a handful of billionaires can decide which causes are acceptable, which voices are welcome and which human lives are worth defending."
Palestinian authorities say more than 74,000 people in Gaza have been killed in the war, which began after Hamas killed nearly 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
