Weeks after his sudden removal from Ed Sheeran’s *Loop Tour* over public pro-Palestinian remarks, American rapper Macklemore—born Benjamin Haggerty—has announced a new independent benefit tour dedicated to advancing Palestinian liberation, with all proceeds directed to Palestinian support organizations.
Announcing the tour via a public statement Thursday, the rapper opened with dry candor: “So, as you all know, my schedule freed up a bit.” The tour is set to kick off next month in Dublin on October 26, followed by consecutive dates in Paris on October 29 and London on October 30, with additional U.S. tour stops slated to be added soon. Extra tickets for the announced shows will go on sale to the general public next week, though Macklemore acknowledged that a handful of logistical details are still being finalized amid the rapid organization of the tour.
The controversy that cleared Macklemore’s schedule traces back to early September, when he appeared as an opening act for Sheeran at a New Jersey stadium concert. During the set, Macklemore openly declared: “A big part of the reason why I wanted to do this tour in the first place is so that I could stand up in stadiums like this and say two words that are very, very dear to my heart: Free Palestine.” He followed the remarks by performing a track dedicated to pro-Palestinian student protesters at Columbia University.
On September 14, Macklemore was officially dropped from the tour lineup. In response to his removal, the rapper claimed that powerful stadium owners had colluded to push him out of the lineup. One major American sports and stadium owner, billionaire Robert Kraft, publicly denounced Macklemore’s comments, accusing the rapper of hate speech and antisemitic rhetoric tied to the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict.
In the immediate aftermath of Macklemore’s removal, all other supporting acts for Sheeran’s tour dropped out in a show of collective solidarity with the rapper, triggering widespread fan frustration and a sharp drop in secondary market ticket prices for the tour. From the start, Sheeran has insisted that the decision to cut Macklemore from the lineup was made not by him, but by his tour promoter, the Messina Touring Group.
Last week, Sheeran addressed the growing controversy head-on at the opening of his Philadelphia show, acknowledging he had made missteps in managing the fallout and issuing an apology to fans. Breaking his silence on the broader conflict, he framed the Israel-Gaza crisis as a pressing humanitarian issue, calling the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks “horrific” while also labeling the ongoing humanitarian situation in Gaza “unjustifiable and disproportionate.”
In his Thursday statement announcing the new tour, Macklemore framed his removal from Sheeran’s tour as part of a larger struggle over free speech and collective action for Palestinian rights. “The last couple of weeks had shown me there had 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,” he wrote. “What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage. 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.”
Macklemore added that over the past week, he has reached out to a range of fellow artists who have used their public platforms to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of professional or personal repercussions. Emphasizing the urgency of the moment despite the unfinished tour logistics, he noted: “But this is a moment of momentum, and there is work to be done.” He also reaffirmed his commitment to his stance, saying “I cannot hide how I feel anymore.”