Rapper Macklemore, whose legal name is Benjamin Haggerty, announced Thursday that he will embark on a "Free Palestine" tour, with all proceeds directed to organizations supporting the Palestinian people and movement. The tour is set to begin Oct. 26 in Dublin, followed by stops in Paris on Oct. 29 and London on Oct. 30. No additional dates have been announced.
In a post on X, Macklemore framed his removal from Ed Sheeran's Loop tour as part of a broader struggle over who controls public platforms. "What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage," he wrote. "When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention."
The announcement follows Macklemore's ouster from Sheeran's tour earlier this month after he made pro-Palestine remarks during a performance at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. At the opening of his song "Hind's Hall," he declared, "Free Palestine, I said free Palestine," adding that he wanted the message heard "so that the people in Gaza all the way to the occupied West Bank, know that we have not forgotten them." He later shared video of the moment online, writing, "Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial."
His removal prompted backlash from some groups, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who called for Macklemore to be dropped. The decision also triggered a cascade of support-act withdrawals; all of Sheeran's opening acts subsequently left the tour. Sheeran addressed the controversy in a lengthy Instagram post, stating that multiple venues had threatened to pull out if Macklemore remained. "Macklemore coming off tour was the promoter's decision; it was not mine," Sheeran wrote, noting that Macklemore's contract was with the promoter, not with him.
Sheeran, who has generally avoided political pronouncements, said he did not want to turn his concerts into political forums for his young audience. However, at a Philadelphia show on Saturday, he broke his silence on the Israel-Palestine conflict. "What happened in Israel at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023, was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain," he said. "What is happening in Gaza is catastrophic and unjustifiable and disproportionate; my heart has been broken by the scale of the devastation and loss of civilian life and children's lives." He also condemned "the systematic injustice we see unfolding in the West Bank" and said he is speaking with people across the spectrum to determine how to contribute, while acknowledging he does not know enough.
The episode has drawn attention to the pressures artists face when they wade into the Israeli-Palestinian debate. Macklemore's new tour, billed as the "Macklemore and Friends Free Palestine Tour," will donate all proceeds to Palestinian aid groups. The move escalates his public advocacy and tests whether a music tour can serve as a vehicle for political fundraising and solidarity.
As the tour takes shape, it remains unclear whether other artists will join or whether venues will face similar pressures. For now, Macklemore is pressing forward, positioning his platform as a direct challenge to those he says seek to silence dissent. The tour's European dates suggest an initial focus on markets where pro-Palestine sentiment has been pronounced, but further expansion is possible.
Sheeran's statements and Macklemore's tour mark a new phase in the entertainment industry's engagement with the conflict, one in which commercial decisions and political speech are increasingly intertwined. The coming weeks will reveal whether this moment galvanizes broader action or remains an isolated clash between artists and the interests that control live music.
