Rapper Macklemore has gotten himself removed from the lineup of the Neon City Festival in downtown, and in the process has garnered the inaugural music shindig its first national headlines.
While performing at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival in his hometown of Seattle on Saturday night, the 41-year-old rapper shouted “Fuck America!”
“Straight up, say it!” Macklemore continued. “I’m not going to stop you. Um, yeah, fuck America!”
Macklemore, whose legal name is Ben Haggerty, is a vocal supporter of the Palestinian people who shares their frustration and anger at the Israeli government over the war in Gaza. The festival in question benefited organizations including the United Nations Relief & Works Agency.
Macklemore unleashed his anti-American tirade while debuting a new song, “Hind’s Hall 2.” It’s a sequel to “Hind’s Hall,” released in May, whose title comes from Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall. The dorm was briefly occupied in April by student protesters who renamed it in honor of Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed alongside her family by Israeli forces.
“Hind’s Hall 2” includes the following lyrics:
Hey Kamala, I don’t know if you listening
But stop sending money and weapons, you ain’t winning Michigan.
We uncommitted, and hell no, we ain’t switching positions.
Michigan has one of America’s largest Arab-American populations.
Vegas Responds
Neon City’s organizers dropped Macklemore like a hot potato on Tuesday, blaming unexplained but obvious “unforeseen circumstances” in a statement issued to the media.
Macklemore was one of five headliners announced for the inaugural downtown Las Vegas festival, scheduled for F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, Nov. 22-24, at various downtown venues.
Festival organizers now appear to be scrambling to replace the rapper. Their statement concluded with: “We are excited to announce new artists joining the NCF lineup shortly.”
The fallout reverberated beyond Vegas as well. The Kraken and Sounders, professional Seattle hockey and soccer teams who are minority-owned by Macklemore, issued the following statement jointly:
“We believe that sports bring people together and unite us. We are aware of Macklemore’s increasingly divisive comments, and they do not reflect the values of our respective ownership groups, leagues, or organizations. We are currently evaluating our collective options on this matter.”
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