Pink has responded to the backlash she received after sharing an Instagram post that criticised Macklemore‘s calls for a “free Palestine” during a recent opening slot on Ed Sheeran’s North American tour.
After making an impassioned speech calling for “all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality” while onstage in New Jersey last week, the rapper has faced calls for his removal from the tour by the Israeli-American Council, who claimed he had used his platform to “advance a one-sided political agenda”.
Among the critics of his speech was Pink, who had shared a post from the StopAntisemitism group claiming Macklemore had “accused Israel of a false ‘genocide,’ and turned a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state,” per JustJared.
In a subsequent post shared on Friday (September 11), the ‘Stupid Girls’ singer gave a lengthy explanation as to why she felt compelled to share the post.
“Last Sunday I reposted somebody else’s post about Macklemore’s set at Ed Sheeran’s show,” the post began. “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.
“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.”
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.”
She went on to say she had never spoken for “Israel, or for any government” and added that she still believes “Hamas is a terrorist organization,” adding: “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.”
Her three-part statement continued into the comments section, although it appears to be removed after she limited comments on the post. Her statement in full is still available in screenshots online, including in the X post below.
In the comment, she recalled Macklemore wearing a costume during a 2014 performance that many characterised as an anti-Semitic caricature. He later apologised, saying: “I respect all cultures and all people.”
P!nk responds to backlash after she shared a post labelling Macklemore as “anti-Israel” for spreading awareness about Palestine:
“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… pic.twitter.com/tAixSCFTRG— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 11, 2026
“Every Jew I know knew exactly what it was,” Pink wrote Friday. “But he apologized, and I let it go, because that’s what we do. We let it go. Then last weekend he stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them. You don’t get to decide that for us.”
She continued: “That’s what prompted my repost. Not ‘Free Palestine,’ and not anyone’s right to say it. I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund. What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, [is] ‘That scared me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I’m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed?”
She then addressed “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.”
Amid the controversy, Macklemore recently responded to critics of the recent onstage pleas, sharing a full video of his speech and pointedly saying that striving for equality “should never be controversial”.
