Macklemore has announced that proceeds from his upcoming London concert will benefit a group whose UK spokesperson defended Hamas’s Oct. 7 hostage-taking as “legitimate” and “effective.”
The rapper, 41, whose legal name is Benjamin Haggerty, scheduled the Oct. 30 show at Wembley Arena as part of his newly launched “Macklemore & Friends — Free Palestine Tour.” The 12,500-capacity venue is managed by Live Nation. Multiple organizations will receive support from the concert, including the Palestine Youth Movement.
Jeanine Hourani, a UK spokesperson for the Palestine Youth Movement, previously praised the taking of hostages during the Oct. 7 atrocities. The group itself has characterized the massacres as a “prison break.”
The Jewish Leadership Council issued a warning that funding the Palestine Youth Movement through Macklemore’s tour risks legitimizing violence against Jewish communities. The group pressed Live Nation to disclose its vetting process and detail safety measures meant to protect Jewish staff and attendees from antisemitic incitement.
Macklemore’s UK announcement arrives weeks after he was dropped as an opening act from Ed Sheeran’s US tour. The removal followed two September performances at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the rapper used his platform to declare “Free Palestine” and accuse Israel of genocide and apartheid. Jerusalem has vigorously rejected those charges as libelous.
Promoter Messina Touring Group cut Macklemore from the lineup after multiple venue owners objected. Robert Kraft, the Jewish philanthropist who owns Gillette Stadium, was among those who notified promoters they would not permit the rapper on the bill.
The Israeli-American Council celebrated the decision to remove Macklemore. “The rapper may have a First Amendment right to traffic in Jew-hatred, but he does not have the right to peddle his poison on stage in front of tens of thousands of concertgoers,” the group told JNS.
Macklemore responded to his ouster by announcing the headlining “Macklemore & Friends — Free Palestine Tour,” with the London date now drawing fresh scrutiny over its beneficiary organizations.