Madison Square Garden Responds to Macklemore, Says He Is Not an Arena-Level Act

A Madison Square Garden spokesperson has responded to Macklemore’s allegation that the arena blocked him from performing there on his Free Palestine Tour.

“We have some of the busiest venues in the world with extremely limited availability and he’s not an arena level act,” the spokesperson said in a statement shared with Billboard on Friday (Nov. 6).

Billboard has reached out to Macklemore’s representatives for comment.

Earlier that day, the rapper named MSG and eight other arenas — Prudential Center, Barclays Center, UBS Arena, Intuit Dome, Kia Forum, Crypto.com Arena, Chase Center and Climate Pledge Arena — in a statement claiming he was not welcome at the venues because of the tour’s message and purpose.

“From the beginning, our plan was to bring this tour home to the U.S,” he wrote after his Free Palestine shows in Dublin, Paris and London. “But after weeks of reaching out, nine major American arenas have turned us down.”

“By mid-September, we received available dates at these arenas through the end of the year,” he continued. “But once they found out these were my benefit shows for Palestine, those dates were suddenly off the table. 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.”

He added that he’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.”

Macklemore’s previous three Free Palestine shows took place in arenas: 3Arena in Dublin, Accor Arena in Paris and OVO Arena Wembley in London. According to the musician, each show sold out immediately. Each drew thousands of fans and featured guest performances from Hozier, Kneecap and AURORA.

On Nov. 14, 2013, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis headlined a show at Madison Square Garden at the height of the duo’s commercial success.

The dispute follows Macklemore’s earlier conflict with Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium, and other American stadium owners. They allegedly banded together to pressure Ed Sheeran’s promoter into dropping the rapper from the Loop Tour supporting lineup. During his first two performances opening for Sheeran, Macklemore incorporated “Free Palestine” demonstrations into his act.

After his dismissal from the Loop Tour, the “Thrift Shop” artist announced his Free Palestine Tour and donated $1 million to humanitarian aid for Gaza.

Source: Billboard