P!NK Responds to Backlash Over Criticism of Macklemore’s Pro-Palestine Remarks

P!NK has responded to backlash over her criticism of Macklemore’s recent onstage remarks calling for a free Palestine, claiming that resharing a post from the advocacy group StopAntisemitism was not tantamount to a statement. Criticizing perceived assumptions that a “Jew who won’t apologize for existing must be the villain,” the artist said that “protecting innocent life comes first” while pointing to her experience as a UNICEF ambassador.

“Last Sunday I reposted somebody else’s post about Macklemore’s set at Ed Sheeran’s show. It said things in words I didn’t write, and I wouldn’t have chosen all of them,” she wrote in a lengthy Instagram statement. “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. A repost isn’t a statement, and a meme isn’t a spine. Social media makes all of us cheap and fast, and we all know it. But I’d rather be disagreed with for what I actually said than hated for what anybody else wrote, so let me say it.”

She continued, “I was born a Jew. I didn’t pick it, and I’ve never hidden it… Of course I don’t speak for Israel, or for any government. I never have. What I said in October 2023 is still exactly what I believe: 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.”

“I’ve spent a decade as a UNICEF ambassador for kids who didn’t choose the country or the war they were born into, and I have grieved every one of them, on both sides of that fence,” P!NK added. “I didn’t do it from behind a screen; I went to those children and held them. I’m not going to litigate a complex war in an Instagram caption, and I’m not going to recite anybody’s slogan to earn back a follower.”

The pop star went on to criticize those who “spat” the word Zionist “like it’s a slur,” noting that it was used “by people who couldn’t tell you the details of what I believe, because I hadn’t told them yet. I wasn’t asked. I was told. I don’t think most of them hate Jews. I think somebody handed them a story where the Jew who won’t apologize for existing must be the villain, and they’ve been putting words in my mouth ever since.”

“To the ones who are furious with me: you don’t have to agree with me,” P!NK wrote. “That’s been our unspoken agreement for twenty-five years, and it still stands, and so do I. You don’t have to agree with one thing Israel’s government does to not want the Jewish family two rows down from you to be scared or targeted at a concert. That’s the only thing I’m asking anybody for. To the ones who are frightened this week, Jewish or Muslim or Palestinian or Israeli or just tired of all of it: I see you. And if anybody wants to really know what I think, just ask me. I’m right here. I’ve never been hard to find. And I’ll keep speaking out, in my own words.”

P!NK closed the statement by saying, “For working people who have more to worry about than pop stars and pile-ons, it’s the end of a hard week. It’s also the 25th anniversary of September 11th, and my prayers are with the innocent souls we lost that morning. And at sundown, for Jews, it’s Rosh Hashanah, our New Year.”

“Now I’m going to go make dinner for my kids, light the candles, dip some apples in honey, pour a glass of wine and be full of gratitude. That’s my tradition. It also happens to be a Jewish one.”

Macklemore made his comments while opening for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, last weekend. “One of the reasons why I wanted to come on this tour was because I wanted to stand up here on stages in stadiums across America and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart: ‘Free Palestine,'” he said. “I want those words to be loud and clear so that people from Gaza, all the way to the occupied West Bank know that we have not forgotten them.”

The post by StopAntisemitism that P!NK reshared accused Macklemore of falsely claiming that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and said he “turned a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state.” It also called for concertgoers to receive apologies and refunds.

For his part, Macklemore shared an Instagram clip of his speech with the caption, “Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.”