US pop star Pink has vowed to "keep speaking out" despite being "hurt" by backlash after reposting criticism of Macklemore’s speech calling to "free Palestine". Macklemore, 43, opened for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last week and told the audience he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten amid the conflict with Israel. Following his address, a petition demanding he be removed from the remaining dates of the tour was launched, and Pink reposted a message criticising his comments to her Instagram page.
The Grammy-winning singer, 47, did not initially share her own comments on the matter but on Friday shared a lengthy essay to her page, responding to the backlash her reposts have received. Pink, born Alecia Beth Moore, explained the post she shared "said things in words I didn’t write" and acknowledged acting "cheap and fast" on social media. "I’d rather be disagreed with for what I actually said than hated for what anybody else wrote, so let me say it," she wrote.
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." The chart-topper stated she does not speak for Israel or for any government and reiterated her 2023 stance that "Palestinians deserve a future that honours their humanity and their aspirations". Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial.
This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Pink explained that what she was "reacting to" was a costume previously worn by Macklemore featuring what she described as "a hooked nose, a black beard and a bowl cut". "But he apologised, and I let it go, because that’s what we do.
"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. 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. What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘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?" Pink concluded by saying she has noticed a "change" in her comments, with people who "couldn’t tell you the details of what I believe" starting to "put words in her mouth".
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