MSG Says Macklemore Is “Not An Arena Level Act” After Turning Down Free Palestine Tour

After Macklemore called out some of the venues that would not host his Free Palestine Tour, Madison Square Garden has responded.

In a recent statement, an MSG spokesperson claimed the decision to reject the tour was due to “extremely limited availability” and the fact that he’s “not an arena level act,” despite quickly selling out the tour’s arena shows in Dublin, Paris and London last month.

“We have some of the busiest venues in the world with extremely limited availability and he’s not an arena level act,” the MSG rep said in a statement.

The statement came after Macklemore called out some of the venues that “have turned us down” including MSG, Prudential Center, Barclays Center, UBS Arena, Intuit Dome, Kia Forum, Crypto.com Arena, Chase Center, and Climate Pledge Arena.

“By mid-September, we received available dates at these arenas through the end of the year. But once they found out these were my benefit shows for Palestine, those dates were suddenly off the table,” he said. “The doors were closed. The conversations were all different, but the result was the same. The shows were not going to be allowed to happen in these venues.”

Macklemore added in part, “I’d rather lose every opportunity in this industry than spend another day protecting people who value their business relationships with Israel more than they value Palestinian human life. We live in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech. Yet we’ve reached a point where a handful of billionaires can decide which causes are acceptable, which voices are welcome and which human lives are worth defending. Today it’s Palestine. What will it be tomorrow?”

In September, Macklemore announced the Free Palestine Tour, which is “supporting the Palestinian people and movement,” after Ed Sheeran dropped Macklemore from his tour amid an outcry around the opener’s “Free Palestine” onstage remarks. Opting to remain publicly neutral on the issue, Sheeran subsequently released a statement saying it was the “promoter’s decision” after Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft assembled several of the tour venues to give him an ultimatum.