About 200,000 people have signed a petition demanding the removal of pop star Pink as a UNICEF ambassador after she criticised US rapper Macklemore for his pro-Palestinian statements during a stop on Ed Sheeran’s tour, the Times of Israel reported. Pink objected to Macklemore’s use of what she called “violent images from a war” displayed on stage at the concert.
Macklemore was dropped from the tour’s remaining US dates after Robert Kraft, the Jewish billionaire owner of the New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium, objected to his participation and, according to Macklemore, pressed other venue owners to do the same, the Times of Israel noted.
The petition, started by a group calling itself Swifties Against Genocide, fans of pop singer Taylor Swift, argues that UNICEF ambassadors should be held to high standards of neutrality and compassion. It quickly drew support from Oscar-winning Spanish actor Javier Bardem, a vocal advocate for Palestinian causes, who shared the petition on his Instagram account. “She cannot defend children’s rights while not condemning the genocide in Gaza,” Bardem wrote in the post, according to The Intercept.
Pink, whose legal name is Alecia Beth Moore-Hart, is Jewish by birth. She has said she does not speak for Israel or any government, and that Palestinians deserve a future that honours their humanity and aspirations. However, she said “standing up for my own people” has proven lonelier than she expected.
Backing her opposition to Macklemore, she said that he had displayed graphic wartime imagery on screen, dedicated a song to his chosen cause and then told Jewish members of the audience that his criticism of Israel, apartheid and genocide was not the same as criticising Jewish people, and she rejects that argument. She said that comment, rather than his use of the Free Palestine slogan, prompted her to take on him.
Pink had initially responded by resharing a post from the account StopAntisemitism, which said Jewish fans had been “ambushed by Macklemore’s anti-Israel propaganda.” After facing backlash for the repost, she issued her own statement saying people had assumed her beliefs based solely on her being Jewish, without checking anything she had actually said or done.
In that statement, she objected to the word “Zionist” being used as an insult and clarified she had never called for Macklemore to be dropped from the tour. She said she wasn’t seeking to silence him or asking for a refund – only wanting to voice her fear without being accused of spreading propaganda or being indifferent to genocide.
The petition calling for her removal was published the same day as her statement and has grown steadily since, arguing that her comments have fueled ongoing conflict and that her removal would reaffirm UNICEF’s commitment to impartiality regardless of nationality or heritage, the report said.
After being dropped from Sheeran’s tour, Macklemore announced his own “Free Palestine” tour, beginning with three dates in Dublin, Paris and London starting October 26, with additional dates, including in the US, to be announced. He said all proceeds would benefit organisations supporting the Palestinian people, with the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace listed among the causes on the tour flier.
