Grammy-nominated American rapper Macklemore, legal name Benjamin Haggerty, has officially kicked off his self-organized ‘Free Palestine’ tour with a thunderous sold-out 13,000-capacity show at Dublin’s 3Arena, mere weeks after a high-profile fallout led to his removal from Ed Sheeran’s international Loop Tour. The tour, which will make subsequent stops in Paris and London, is structured to funnel 100% of its generated proceeds to grassroots organizations delivering direct support to Palestinian communities amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.
The chain of events that sparked the new tour traces back to early September, when Macklemore, performing as Sheeran’s opening act at a New Jersey stadium, took the stage to publicly declare his solidarity with Palestinian populations, uttering the phrase ‘Free Palestine’ and debuting a new track dedicated to pro-Palestinian student protesters at Columbia University that included lyrics critical of Israeli military operations in Gaza. He repeated these remarks at two subsequent tour stops, describing the death toll from Israel’s Gaza campaign as a genocide – a characterization the Israeli government explicitly rejects. The comments drew sharp condemnation from major Jewish advocacy groups, as well as billionaire stadium owner Robert Kraft, who publicly accused the rapper of promoting hate speech and antisemitic rhetoric.
On September 14, Macklemore was formally removed from Sheeran’s tour lineup. In the immediate aftermath, the rapper publicly alleged that a coalition of stadium operators had coordinated to force his ouster. Sheeran later clarified publicly that the decision had been made unilaterally by his tour promoter, Messina Touring Group, and was not a call he had initiated. The fallout rippled across the entire production: all remaining supporting acts on Sheeran’s tour dropped out in a show of solidarity with Macklemore, prompting widespread fan backlash that eventually led Sheeran to address the controversy directly during a Philadelphia tour stop. The British pop star apologized for mismanaging the situation, described the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel that killed roughly 1,200 people and saw 251 civilians taken hostage as ‘horrific’, and characterized the subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza as ‘unjustifiable and disproportionate’, framing the broader crisis as a pressing humanitarian issue.
Against that charged backdrop, Macklemore’s Dublin debut drew throngs of dedicated fans who traveled from across Ireland and Northern Ireland hours before venue doors opened. Many attendees arrived draped in Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Palestinian national jerseys, and paired Palestinian flags with Irish tricolors, while street vendors outside the arena sold Palestinian-themed merchandise alongside branded goods from beloved Irish rap trio Kneecap. For Nicola McCollough, who made the trip from Belfast with her 13-year-old daughter Lily Rose Murphy for the teen’s very first live concert, the event represented far more than a typical gig. ‘If you have a platform this big, you have a responsibility to speak up for people who don’t get to be heard on that stage,’ McCollough told reporters in the queue. Gillian Duffy, who traveled from Cork with her son Joshua, noted that demand for the show was so high Macklemore could easily have filled 10 consecutive Dublin dates, with every ticket selling out instantly. Fellow Cork attendee Jess O’Riordan called Macklemore’s removal from Sheeran’s tour ‘absolutely appalling’, adding that more public figures should follow his example of using their artistic platform to advocate for marginalized communities.
Official figures from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which the United Nations deems statistically reliable, confirm more than 70,000 people have been killed in Israeli military operations in the territory to date. The Israeli government maintains all its operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank are acts of self-defense conducted in full compliance with international humanitarian law.
Macklemore begins Free Palestine tour after Ed Sheeran fallout
