❗️Macklemore says US venues blocked his Free Palestine tour, citing nine rejections US rapper Macklemore said on Friday that several major US concert venues, including New York's Madison Square Garden, had refused to host his recently concluded Free Palestine tour, which included three performances in Europe. The "Thrift Shop" artist launched the tour after being dropped as the opening act for Ed Sheeran's concert tour in August. Macklemore said at the time that stadium operators had objected to his use of the phrase "Free Palestine" during performances. In a social media post, Macklemore said nine US venues had since rejected requests to book available dates through the end of the year. Among them were Madison Square Garden and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. "The shows were not going to be allowed to happen in these venues," he said in a post. "In over 20 years of touring, I've never experienced anything like this." A spokesperson for MSG Entertainment, which operates Madison Square Garden and other venues, said its properties are among "the busiest venues in the world with extremely limited availability" and that Macklemore is "not an arena-level act."