Macklemore says NYC arenas refusing to host 'Free Palestine' benefit shows

NEW YORK - Macklemore has accused several arenas in the tri-state area of refusing to host him and his "Free Palestine" U.S. benefit tour, the artist said Friday.

Macklemore accuses stadiums of turning down benefit tour

What they're saying:

In a lengthy message posted to his social media on Friday, Macklemore shared an update on his attempt to bring his "Free Palestine" tour to the U.S. 

The artist accused nine venues across the country of turning him away, including Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center and UBS Arena in New York and the Prudential Center in Newark.

He also named the Intuit Dome, Kia Forum and Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the Chase Center in San Francisco and Climate Pledge Arena in his hometown Seattle.

Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran tour

The backstory:

In September, Macklemore was removed from Ed Sheeran's "Loop" tour, after making pro-Palestine comments during a show at MetLife Stadium.

Shortly after his removal, he announced plans for the "Free Palestine" benefit tour, beginning with three shows in Europe. All proceeds from the tour would go to "organizations supporting Palestine and the Palestinian movement."

Macklemore, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, has been an outspoken supporter of Palestine and critic of Israel for years, releasing several protest songs, and regularly beginning "Free Palestine" chants at shows.

Dig deeper:

In his post Friday, Macklemore said that following the sold-out shows in Europe, he was in talks with multiple venues to bring the tour to the U.S., but, he said, "once they found out these were my benefit shows for Palestine, those dates were suddenly off the table."

"In over twenty years of touring, I've never experienced anything like this," he said.

MSG responds

What we know:

In a statement to FOX 5 NY, a spokesperson for Madison Square Garden said that the decision was due to Macklemore's status.

"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.

FOX 5 NY has also reached out to Barclays Center, UBS Arena and Prudential Center for comment, but has not yet heard back.

Tour future uncertain

What's next:

While it's not clear when or where Macklemore would host benefit shows in the U.S., in his statement Friday he made clear, "there will be more shows for Palestine."

"We'll keep working with other artists and organizers, continuing where we left off in Europe," Macklemore said. "We'll probably just take that s*** outside where it belonged in the first place."

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