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Macklemore announces 'Free Palestine' Tour

Michael Rietmulder, The Seattle Times on

Published in Entertainment News

SEATTLE — With his schedule suddenly “freed up a bit,” Macklemore is going back out on the road.

Less than two weeks after being kicked off Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour for making pro-Palestinian statements, Macklemore in an Instagram post Thursday announced a “Free Palestine” Tour.

From the sounds of it, some of the details are still in the works. But the Seattle rapper announced the first three European dates with proceeds benefiting groups that support Palestinians.

“If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years,” Macklemore wrote on social media. “There has been a collective awakening around Palestinian liberation, the power of billionaires that try to censor that call, and what we expect from artists right now.”

While the supporting acts are yet to be announced, “Macklemore and friends” are set to play arenas in Dublin (Oct. 26), Paris (Oct. 29) and London (Oct. 30). It stands to reason that the real-life Ben Haggerty may have reached out to some of his fellow Loop Tour openers, who dropped off Sheeran’s high-profile stadium tour in solidarity with Macklemore and the Palestinian people.

After a “free Palestine” speech Macklemore made on stage during Sheeran’s New Jersey concert went viral, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft pressured Sheeran to give Macklemore the boot before the tour hit Gillette Stadium. Kraft allegedly rallied a number of other NFL owners and stadium operators to threaten to bar Sheeran from playing their venues unless Macklemore was dropped from the bill.

 

The ensuing controversy has reignited debates about Israel and Palestine, free speech and censorship.

“What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage,” Macklemore wrote. “When the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention.”

Last week, Macklemore announced he was donating $1 million in earnings from his brief stint on Sheeran’s tour to Palestinian aid groups, challenging Kraft to do the same.

Tickets for the first three shows go on sale next week, with artist announcements and American tour dates “coming soon.”


©2026 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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