Macklemore Announces Free Palestine Tour in Dublin, Paris and London Macklemore announces his Free Palestine Tour in Dublin, Paris and London in late October, after donating $1 million from Ed Sheeran tour earnings to Palestinian aid. Rapper Macklemore announced on Thursday, Sept. 24 that he is launching his own Free Palestine Tour to raise funds for people suffering in Gaza, following his removal as an opening act on Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour. The tour will take place across Dublin, Paris and London on three days in late October, with tickets going on presale at 10 a.m. local time on Monday, Sept. 28 via registration on Macklemore's website. The billing for the shows currently reads simply as Macklemore and Friends. The rapper shared the news on Instagram along with a poster for the Free Palestine Tour.He explained that because of how quickly the project came together, many conversations, schedules and details are still being worked out, but he described the moment as one of momentum with work still to be done.Why Macklemore Launched the TourMacklemore said the past couple of weeks showed that something has shifted over the last three years. He pointed to what he described as a collective awakening around Palestinian liberation, the power of billionaires who try to censor that call, and what audiences now expect from artists.He argued that being apolitical during a genocide no longer works, and that people are asking artists to show up, educate themselves and be part of a community. He added that artists should use the stage for more than entertainment and push back when the call for a Free Palestine is met with attempts to silence it.Though Macklemore did not name Sheeran in the post, the reference was clear given the events of recent weeks.Ed Sheeran Loop Tour ControversyEarlier in the month, the U.S. promoter for Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour removed Macklemore as one of the trek's openers following backlash to his Free Palestine demonstrations on the MetLife Stadium stage in New Jersey. The promoter cited conversations with owners of other stadiums on the tour route, who allegedly threatened to cancel dates unless Macklemore was dropped.Sheeran later confirmed in a statement that he had been in communication with other stadium owners, namely Robert Kraft, whose Kraft Group owns Gillette Stadium, in the hopes of building bridges and finding alternate solutions. According to the four-time Grammy winner, the venue's and promoter's decision was final.Sheeran said he wanted the tour to offer an apolitical place of safety and sanctuary, to maintain diplomacy and keep conversations open rather than closed. That stance drew pushback from fans and activists, leading Sheeran to speak more on the topic at his first Loop show after Macklemore was dropped. No one opened for Sheeran that night, as all of the other supporting acts were also unavailable.Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys criticized Ed Sheeran over his treatment of Macklemore, saying it does not sit right.Donations and Statements on GazaSheeran later addressed the situation on stage at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sept. 19. He said that what happened in Israel and at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 was horrific and compounded centuries of Jewish pain, and that what is happening in Gaza is catastrophic, unjustifiable and disproportionate.Both Sheeran and Kraft have each pledged $2 million in donations to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Before that, Macklemore donated the $1 million he made from his Loop Tour contract to Palestinian aid, and he is now keeping the momentum going with the Free Palestine Tour.Macklemore added in his tour announcement that what happened to him is bigger than one artist or one stage. He said that when the billionaire class can decide which voices are allowed on stage and which ones are too dangerous to hear, everyone should be paying attention. He also said that artists who understand their platforms mean very little if they are only willing to use them when it is safe.