Pink Breaks Silence Over Backlash Following Macklemore's Pro-Palestine Remarks: 'Standing Up for My Own People'

Pink, born Alecia Beth Moore, addressed her recent online controversy seven days after criticising rapper Macklemore over his remarks during an Ed Sheeran concert. The pop star issued a statement explaining her reaction. She said that third-party comments misstated her perspective and that her subsequent memes aggravated the dispute.

She said she would rather be judged for her own words than for language written by someone else. Pink also addressed the reaction to her Jewish identity and said she would keep speaking out in her own words.

Macklemore concert remarks

Macklemore began the gig for Sheeran. Before singing "Hinds Hall", he declared his backing for the Palestinian cause. The rapper shared his statement on Instagram, where he wrote: "Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial." The message spread widely on social media and set off the dispute that later drew Pink in.

The exchange began after that concert appearance in New Jersey, where Macklemore's remarks became a flashpoint online. Pink then weighed in publicly with a repost of another account's criticism.

Pink's first response to Macklemore's remarks

Pink circulated an update from the @Stop_AntiSemitism account with an added remark. "Awful – Jewish fans bought tickets to see Ed Sheeran sing last night in NJ, not to be ambushed by Macklemore's anti-Israel propaganda," she added.

That repost triggered backlash against the "So What" singer. As criticism mounted, Pink posted memes and quotes that, by her own account, only added to the anger around the episode.

The dispute then shifted from Macklemore's concert remarks to Pink's response and what she meant by amplifying that post. Her clarification addressed both the original repost and her reaction after it drew criticism.

Pink's clarification

The 47-year-old singer has now addressed the controversy directly in a fresh statement on Instagram. She wrote, "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. 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 then spoke about her identity and the assumptions she said others had made about her. Pink wrote, "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. But let me fill it in... myself."

"To the ones who are furious with me: you don't have to agree with me. 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," she wrote further.