{"id":656425,"date":"2026-10-25T07:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T07:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/656425\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T07:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T07:10:10","slug":"macklemore-calls-for-free-palestine-and-speaks-out-against-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/656425\/","title":{"rendered":"Macklemore Calls for \u2018Free Palestine\u2019 and Speaks Out Against ICE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMacklemore<\/a> returned to the stage Thursday night (Oct. 22) with a message that made clear he has no plans to retreat from the stance that preceded his removal from Ed Sheeran\u2019s tour.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n\tDuring a 17-song set at Colorado\u2019s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the rapper paused the show to address the crowd, calling for a \u201cfree Palestine<\/a>\u201d while also speaking about Sudan, Congo, Lebanon, Haiti, and people affected by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBeing a human being in this moment is not complicated,\u201d Macklemore said, according to footage from the concert. \u201cIt is not political. It is human to have a heart, to watch others suffering and to say, \u2018Not anymore!\u2019 So I say, free Palestine. I say, free Palestine!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe continued: \u201cI say, free Sudan. I say, free Congo, Lebanon, to Haiti, to all the people that are affected by ICE in America, who are afraid to leave their houses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe message will always be love,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Red Rocks appearance marked Macklemore\u2019s first concert since a turbulent run opening for Sheeran\u2019s Loop Tour in September.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring two shows at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey<\/a>, Macklemore called for Palestinian freedom from the stage and performed his 2024 protest song \u201cHind\u2019s Hall\u201d alongside imagery from Gaza. The performances prompted criticism from groups including the Israeli-American Council and ultimately led to his removal from the remaining dates.<\/p>\n

\n\tTour promoter Messina Touring Group said at the time that venues on the upcoming U.S. run had informed organizers they would not host the concerts with Macklemore on the lineup. Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium<\/a>, later confirmed that he had barred Macklemore from appearing at the Massachusetts venue, citing rhetoric and imagery that Kraft said had been offensive and hurtful to members of the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

\n\tSheeran subsequently stressed that the decision to remove Macklemore was not his, writing that it had been made by the promoter and venues. \u201cI respect Macklemore\u2019s strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes,\u201d Sheeran said at the time, while adding that his own approach was to \u201cmaintain diplomacy and keep conversations open, not closed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMacklemore responded by pledging the $1 million he earned from his stint on the tour to organizations providing aid to Palestinians. Kraft later announced a $2 million contribution to humanitarian aid in the region.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe fallout also reshaped the remainder of Sheeran\u2019s tour, with opening acts Finneas, Aaron Rowe and Lukas Graham, as well as Sheeran\u2019s backing band Beoga, subsequently withdrawing<\/a> from scheduled appearances.<\/p>\n

\n\tMacklemore has since organized his own Free Palestine Tour<\/a>, with sold-out shows scheduled for Dublin on Oct. 26, Paris on Oct. 29 and London on Oct. 30. Proceeds from the concerts are set to benefit a number of organizations supporting Palestinians, including Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians and the Palestine Children\u2019s Relief Fund.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe controversy also drove a noticeable spike in Macklemore\u2019s streaming numbers.<\/p>\n

\n\tAccording to early data from Luminate reported by Billboard<\/a>, official on-demand U.S. streams of Macklemore\u2019s solo catalog climbed from 282,000 on Sept. 13 to 767,000 two days later \u2014 a 172% increase. His total catalog, including his work with Ryan Lewis, nearly doubled over the same period, rising 97% from just over 1 million streams to nearly 2 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe biggest jump came for \u201cHind\u2019s Hall.\u201d The protest track surged from just over 5,000 U.S. streams on Sept. 13 to nearly 87,000 on Sept. 15, its biggest daily total in more than two years.<\/p>\n

\n\tMacklemore\u2019s solo Billboard Hot 100 history includes \u201cGood Old Days,\u201d featuring Kesha, \u201cGlorious,\u201d featuring Skylar Grey, and \u201cSummer Days,\u201d with Martin Garrix and Patrick Stump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Macklemore returned to the stage Thursday night (Oct. 22) with a message that made clear he has no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[4249,146,85,46,409,1098,48],"class_list":["post-656425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ed-sheeran","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music","tag-music-news","tag-palestine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}