Macklemore announces ‘Free Palestine’ tour after Ed Sheeran tour drop

Rapper Macklemore has announced a “Free Palestine” tour beginning in Dublin on October 26, days after he was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour following pro-Palestinian comments he made onstage earlier this month.

The American artist, whose real name is Benjamin Haggerty, said proceeds from the new tour will go to organisations supporting Palestinians.

“So, as you all know, my schedule freed up a bit,” Macklemore said while announcing the tour on Thursday.

The announcement comes after Macklemore’s onstage comments and subsequent removal from Sheeran’s tour led the singer’s support acts to drop out. Sheeran said the decision to remove Macklemore was made by his promoter, rather than by him.

In a statement on Thursday, Macklemore said the events of the past two weeks had demonstrated “a collective awakening around Palestinian liberation, the power of billionaires that try to censor that call, and what we expect from artists right now”.

“What happened to me is bigger than one artist or one stage,” he said. “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 said he had spent the past week contacting artists who had used their platforms to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, regardless of the consequences.

“Due to how quickly the tour came together, several details were still being worked out,” he said. “But this is a moment of momentum, and there is work to be done.”

The tour will begin in Dublin on October 26, followed by Paris on October 29 and London on October 30.