US rapper Macklemore announces Free Palestine tour after Ed Sheeran fallout

Macklemore says ‘being apolitical during a genocide doesn’t work’, promises to donate proceeds to Palestinian causes.

Macklemore has regularly used his platform in support of Palestine and has denounced Israel's actions in Gaza as a genocide [Getty]

Grammy Award-winning rapper Macklemore has announced a string of shows in support of Palestine after he was controversially dropped from Ed Sheeran’s United States tour after speaking out against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

The 43-year-old American rapper, who has almost 40 million monthly listeners on Spotify, announced his Free Palestine Tour on Thursday, with shows set to take place in Dublin, Paris and London in late October.

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Macklemore said he will be joined by other musicians and will announce their names soon. He added that US shows are currently being organised.

He said all proceeds raised from the tour will be donated to causes supporting the Palestinian people and the wider movement.

“If these last couple of weeks have shown us anything, it’s that something has shifted over the last three years,” Macklemore said in a statement.

“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. It’s 2026. Being apolitical during a genocide doesn’t work anymore,” he continued.

“People are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be in community. To use the stage for more than entertainment. To push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it.”

English punk rap duo Bob Vylan have expressed their support for the tour, responding to Macklemore’s Instagram post with a heart emoji. The British YouTuber and influencer known as Chunkz, who has more than four million followers on Instagram, also praised Macklemore.

Attempts to silence Macklemore

On September 4 at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Macklemore, who was one of Sheeran’s opening acts, expressed support for Palestine.

“A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: ‘Free Palestine’ … My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality,” Macklemore told the audience at the time.

Soon after, the rapper announced that he had been dropped from the Sheeran tour.

Venue owner Robert Kraft later confirmed that Macklemore was barred from performing at his Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Kraft denounced what he described as the rapper’s “broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery” and argued that such actions led him to decide that allowing Macklemore to perform at his venue “would cross that line”.

Kraft is a Jewish-American billionaire and has donated to several Israeli causes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity, said in 2019 that Israel did not have a “more loyal friend” than Kraft.

From left, Sara Netanyahu, Robert Kraft and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Genesis Prize at The Jerusalem Theater on June 20, 2019 [File: Getty]

Macklemore claimed Sheeran and his team removed him from the tour following pressure from Kraft.

He alleged that Kraft rallied some of the owners of the remaining stadiums that the tour would include and persuaded them not to allow him to perform. The rapper said that the owners then collectively told Sheeran the tour would not go ahead unless he was dropped.

Neither Kraft nor Sheeran have commented on Macklemore’s allegations that Kraft contacted stadium owners. However, Sheeran said that the decision to drop Macklemore was made by the tour’s promoter.

Macklemore 表示“在种族灭绝期间保持政治中立是行不通的”，并承诺将收益捐赠给巴勒斯坦事业。

Macklemore 经常利用他的影响力支持巴勒斯坦，并谴责以色列在加沙的行动是种族灭绝。[Getty]

格莱美奖得主、说唱歌手 Macklemore 在公开反对以色列对加沙发动的种族灭绝战争后，被 Ed Sheeran 取消了美国巡演资格，引发争议。随后，他宣布将举办一系列演出以声援巴勒斯坦。

这位43岁的美国说唱歌手在Spotify上拥有近4000万月度听众，他于周四宣布了他的“自由巴勒斯坦巡回演唱会”，演出将于10月下旬在都柏林、巴黎和伦敦举行。

列表 1/3：艾德·希兰演唱会将在加沙事件引发强烈抗议后如期举行

加沙艺术家表彰Macklemore支持巴勒斯坦的名单（共3位，此为第2位）

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Macklemore表示，他将与其他音乐人合作，并很快公布他们的名字。他还补充说，目前正在筹备美国的演出。

他表示，此次巡演筹集的所有收益将捐赠给支持巴勒斯坦人民和更广泛运动的事业。

Macklemore在一份声明中表示：“如果说过去几周发生的事情向我们表明了什么，那就是过去三年里有些事情发生了变化。”

“巴勒斯坦解放运动已经引发了一场集体觉醒，人们开始意识到亿万富翁们试图压制这种呼声的权力，以及我们现在对艺术家的期望。现在是2026年，在种族灭绝期间保持政治中立已经行不通了，”他继续说道。

“人们呼吁艺术家们站出来，提升自我，融入社区。他们希望艺术家们能将舞台用于更有意义的事情，而不仅仅是娱乐。当人们呼吁自由巴勒斯坦的声音遭到压制时，艺术家们应该挺身而出，予以反击。”

英国朋克说唱二人组Bob Vylan在Macklemore的Instagram帖子下回复了一个爱心表情，表达了对此次巡演的支持。拥有超过四百万Instagram粉丝的英国YouTube博主兼网红Chunkz也对Macklemore赞不绝口。

试图让 Macklemore 噤声

9 月 4 日，在新泽西州大都会人寿体育场，作为希兰开场嘉宾之一的麦克莫尔表达了对巴勒斯坦的支持。

“我当初想举办这次巡演的一个重要原因，就是想站在这样的体育场里，说出两个对我来说无比珍贵的字眼：‘解放巴勒斯坦’……我的信息是和平；是爱，是希望所有人都能得到尊严、尊重和平等的对待，”麦克莫尔当时对观众说道。

不久之后，这位说唱歌手宣布他已被希兰巡演除名。

场馆老板罗伯特·克拉夫特后来证实，麦克莫尔被禁止在他位于马萨诸塞州福克斯堡的吉列体育场演出。克拉夫特谴责了这位说唱歌手“长期以来的反犹太主义言论和形象”，并辩称正是这些行为让他认为，允许麦克莫尔在他的场馆演出“会越过那条底线”。

克拉夫特是一位犹太裔美国亿万富翁，曾向多个以色列慈善机构捐款。以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡因涉嫌战争罪和反人类罪被国际刑事法院发出逮捕令，但他曾在2019年表示，以色列没有比克拉夫特“更忠诚的朋友”。

2019 年 6 月 20 日，萨拉·内塔尼亚胡、罗伯特·克拉夫特和以色列总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡在耶路撒冷剧院举行的创世纪奖颁奖典礼上合影。[图片：Getty]

Macklemore 声称，在 Kraft 的压力下，Sheeran 和他的团队将他从巡演中除名。

他声称，克拉夫特召集了巡演计划中剩余场馆的部分所有者，说服他们不允许他演出。这位说唱歌手表示，这些所有者随后集体告诉希兰，除非他退出巡演，否则巡演将无法进行。

克拉夫特和希兰均未对麦克莫尔关于克拉夫特联系体育场馆所有者的指控发表评论。不过，希兰表示，取消麦克莫尔演出的决定是由巡演主办方做出的。