Entertainmentupdated 1h ago2 min read
MapMacklemore Ends Free Palestine Tour With Sold-Out London Show at OVO Arena Wembley
“Before October 7, Laila Jaber had never heard of Macklemore.”
“Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was among the guest speakers”
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Sold-out London show at OVO Arena Wembley closed the three-date Free Palestine tour. Macklemore urged solidarity with Palestinians, saying staying silent is not brave.
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Sold-Out Wembley Finale
Macklemore concluded his Free Palestine tour with a sold-out show in London at OVO Arena Wembley on Friday, and the event drew a crowd of over 12,500 people.
“And those children in Gaza are our children. There is no separation.”
Macklemore told the audience, “It was more uncomfortable for me to stay silent than to say something,” and he added, “And those children in Gaza are our children. There is no separation.”
Haaretz said Macklemore was removed from British singer Ed Sheeran's tour over his statements in support of Palestine, and it described the final concert in London as taking place on Friday.
Macklemore brought the final night of his Free Palestine Tour to London on Friday, and it quoted him saying, “I don’t believe that staying silent is brave.”
Sheeran, Promoters, and Fallout
Ed Sheeran said in a statement that it was his promoter’s decision to drop Macklemore, and he said venues set to host the concerts threatened to cancel if Macklemore remained on his tour. Sheeran told the crowd in Philadelphia, “My concerts have always been a safe space for everyone, and that matters hugely to me,” and he said he was “deeply worried about the idea that venues pre-approve content for performance.”
The Independent said Macklemore’s real name is Benjamin Haggerty, and it reported that the fallout led every remaining support act on Sheeran’s US tour, as well as his backing band Beoga, to withdraw in solidarity with Macklemore. Al Jazeera said Macklemore was dropped from Ed Sheeran’s US tour following pro-Palestinian remarks, and it described the tour as bringing together artists and activists calling for an end to suffering in Gaza.
Guests, Proceeds, and Pressure
The London lineup included guest speakers Greta Thunberg, Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon, Javier Bardem, Cynthia Nixon, and The Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, with some dialing in remotely. Macklemore told the audience that “Regardless of what the 50 Lords have to say,” the show was “a story of equality for all human beings around this earth,” and he acknowledged the 50 members of the House of Lords who urged the U.K. government to ban his London concert.
“Regardless of what the 50 Lords have to say, this is a story of equality for all human beings around this earth.”
All proceeds from the concerts in Dublin, Paris and London would go toward organizations supporting Palestinian communities through humanitarian relief, medical care, education, advocacy, policy change and community initiatives. The tour was organized after Macklemore was dropped from the remaining shows on Ed Sheeran’s US Loop tour in September after he called for a “Free Palestine” during his show in New Jersey.