Challenged the characterization
“Criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide in no way is a criticism of you.”
Macklemore rejected the characterization that his criticism of Israel was criticism of Jewish people.
- Speaker
- Macklemore
- Capacity
- Recording artist and opening act on Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour
- Observed
- September 9, 2026
- Published here
- September 9, 2026
- Targets
- Anti-Defamation League, Israeli-American Council
- Classification rationale
- The statement directly disputes a central characterization while maintaining the underlying criticism of Israel.
Surrounding material
Full context
Before the quotation
After criticism of the first MetLife performance, Macklemore repeated the set and directly addressed Jewish audience members.
After the quotation
He described his message as peace, love, dignity, respect, and equality before repeating calls for freedom in several countries and communities.
Evidence
Complete source record
Macklemore’s complete MetLife speech and response (opens in a new tab)
First-party post containing the complete introductions from both MetLife performances and Macklemore’s response to criticism.
Full transcript of Macklemore’s MetLife speech (opens in a new tab)
Reporting that reproduces the full speech, including Macklemore’s direct address to Jewish listeners and the IAC response.