Macklemore might have taken his political causes a little too far during a recent Seattle concert at Seward Park Amphitheater.
Dubbed the “Palestine Will Live Forever Festival,” the event was to raise funds for several organizations, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), an independent 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides support for the humanitarian work of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees. At one point during the show, he encouraged the crowd to join him in a “F### America” chant.
“Straight up, say it,” he said. “’m not gonna stop you. I’m not gonna stop you. Yeah, F### America!”
Anti-Semitic rapper Macklemore just got on stage in Seattle and said “f### America” to thunderous applause. pic.twitter.com/NmiZv83moc
— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) September 22, 2024
The backlash was swift and intense. Scores of people started flooding the comment section of the video with remarks such as, “He’s been antisemitic for a long time. Tik Tok has helped the younger generation believe that America is bad. It’s a brainwashing of a generation. If he hates it so much here then why doesn’t he leave? No one is stopping him. He just likes the attention.”
Another person wrote, “He’s happy to receive American dollars though. Hypocrite,” while another said, “Ok then give-up even one of your American privileges, all the $$$ you’ve made in this capitalist country – give it back to the Americans that supported you, and get the **** out of America! Ungrateful celebrities that spit in the face of the country that made them a celebrity are the worst pieces of garbage. Just go! Stop lecturing the rest of us.”
Macklemore released “Hinds Hall” in May and pledged all proceeds to the UNRWA. The song was inspired by the work of student protesters at Columbia University, who occupied the campus’s Hamilton Hall and changed its name to “Hind’s Hall.” He followed up with “Hinds Hall 2” last week in which he calls out Vice President Kamala Harris directly.
“Hey Kamala, I don’t know if you’re listening/But stop sending money and weapons or you ain’t winning Michigan,” he raps in the third verse. “We uncommitted, and hell no we ain’t switching positions/Because the whole world turned Palestinian/I see them murdered children in Gaza and I see my babies/Life being stripped from the bombs we’re making.”
Macklemore has been increasingly vocal about the ongoing conflict. Last month, he canceled a concert in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates’ role “in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis” in Sudan. He has yet to address the pushback he’s receiving for his comments at the Seattle show.