Pink has broken her silence over criticism of her call for Macklemore to be dropped from Ed Sheeran’s US tour, saying she spoke out from a place of fear as a Jewish woman and mother.
The singer was criticised after sharing a post objecting to the rapper’s pro-Palestinian comments during his appearances as Sheeran’s support act.
Macklemore has performed his song Hind’s Hall during the tour, with footage of the war in Gaza shown on screens behind him. He has also used the performances to condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza and urge audiences to support Palestinians.
In an Instagram statement, Pink acknowledged that she should have expressed her concerns in her own words rather than reposting another person’s message.
“A repost isn’t a statement, and a meme isn’t a spine,” she wrote.
Pink, who is Jewish, said her objection was not to Macklemore’s support for Palestine but to what she described as comments directed at Jews, alongside what she suggested was a history of antisemitism.
She referred to a 2014 performance in which Macklemore wore what she described as a “hooked nose, a black beard and a bowl cut”. Macklemore said at the time that the outfit was a “random costume”, but Pink wrote: “Every Jew I know knew exactly what it was”.
She also criticised the use of violent war imagery during the rapper’s performances and his addressing of Jewish people in the audience.
Pink says she was not calling for Macklemore to be silenced
Pink said Macklemore could not determine whether Jewish people felt targeted by his condemnation of Israel.
“That’s what prompted my repost. Not ‘Free Palestine’, and not anyone’s right to say it,” she wrote.
“I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now.”
She said she wanted to express her fears without being accused of supporting the war in Gaza.
“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 reiterated that Hamas is a terrorist organisation while saying Palestinians deserve a future that respects their humanity.
“Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child. Anybody’s child,” she wrote.
She added that she had spent years supporting causes that had attracted criticism, but found the latest backlash particularly isolating.
“And now I’m standing up for my own people, and I thought I knew going in how lonely that would be. And it’s lonelier than that. But I’m doing it anyway.”
Addressing accusations that she supported Israel’s actions, Pink said opposing the Israeli government did not mean accepting Jewish people being frightened or targeted at a concert.
“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,” she wrote.
“That’s the only thing I’m asking anybody for.”
Macklemore has defended his pro-Palestinian statements, saying criticism of Israel was not criticism of Jewish people.
“To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters: criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you,” he said.
“My message is for peace; love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality.”
