Pink addressed the backlash she received after she shared an Instagram post that criticized Macklemore‘s calls to “free Palestine” during an opening performance on Ed Sheeran’s North American tour. On Friday last week (Sept. 4), Macklemore took to the stage at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Wearing a kaffiyeh, the rapper addressed the thousands in the crowd.
Macklemore was met with swift calls to have him removed from the tour. In one post, which Pink reshared on Instagram, the StopAntisemitism account accused Macklemore of ambushing fans at Sheeran’s concert with “anti-Israel propaganda” and said the artist had “accused Israel of a false ‘genocide.'” Per Stereogum, the post called for Macklemore to issue an apology and for ticketholders to be refunded. In turn, Pink received backlash following her repost.
Pink responded to the criticism on Friday (Sept. 11) with a lengthy explanation on social media on why she felt compelled to share the post calling for Macklemore to apologize and why his actions last week alarmed her. It said things in words I didn’t write, and I wouldn’t have chosen all of them. Then the comments came, and I did what I do when I’m hurt, which is post snarky memes and act like I’m fine.
That’s on me,” wrote Pink. Social media makes all of us cheap and fast, and we all know it.” She continued, “I was born a Jew. I didn’t pick it, and I’ve never hidden it.
And this week a whole lot of people decided what I believe without asking me, without checking a single thing I’ve ever said or done, because a repost and the word ‘Jew’ were apparently enough to fill in the rest.” Pink said that she has never spoken for “Israel, or for any government” and that she still believes “Hamas is a terrorist organization. Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations. Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child.
Anybody’s child.” The singer pointed to her “decade as a UNICEF ambassador for kids who didn’t choose the country or the war they were born into” and that she “didn’t do it from behind a screen; I went to those children and held them.” Her three-part statement continued into the comment section of her post. Pink explained that her feelings about Macklemore have changed throughout his career from when he performed “Same Love” at the 2014 Grammys and 33 couples married on air to when months later, he performed in a costume that was widely interpreted as a a Jewish caricature. (Macklemore later apologized to those offended by the costume, which many said was antisemitic.) “I let it go, because that’s what we do. We let it go,” wrote Pink.
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