Pink Calls Macklemore’s Pro-Palestinian Message “Awful”

September 7, 2026

According to outlets like Yahoo, Pink criticized the support for Palestine shown by Macklemore during Ed Sheeran’s New Jersey concerts. The rapper, who was serving as the opening act, appeared wearing a kufiya, shouted “Free Palestine” and displayed a Palestinian flag on the MetLife Stadium screens. Pink shortly thereafter shared on Instagram a video of the performance posted by the Stop Antisemitism account and added a terse “Awful” (“Horrible”).

In the caption accompanying the video, Stop Antisemitism accused Macklemore of speaking about a “false genocide” alleged to be committed by Israel, of turning “a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state,” and claimed that Ed Sheeran should apologize and offer refunds to the audience.

Macklemore performed as Ed Sheeran’s opening act on September 4 and 5. “A large part of the reason I wanted to do this tour was to stand in venues like this and say two words that are very important to me: Free Palestine,” he said from the stage. He also added that he wanted those words to reach “Gaza and the West Bank” so that Palestinians would know they hadn’t been forgotten.

The rapper also performed “Hind’s Hall,” his protest song from 2024, while images related to Gaza were projected. His appearance sparked mixed reactions, and the Israeli-American Council subsequently launched a petition urging Ed Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the rest of the tour.

Pink’s original Story is no longer available on Instagram, although Yahoo and Israel Hayom, a pro-Israel conservative outlet, have covered her content and screenshots have circulated, fueling the controversy on social media.

Pink has not directly responded to the controversy beyond that “Awful,” but she spent the afternoon today sharing other stories with messages seemingly aimed at her critics, such as “I am not for everyone and that has saved me a lot of trouble,” “pleasing everyone is clown work,” “don’t let idiots ruin your day,” or “if they want to paint you as the villain, then pose.” Pink has not confirmed that these latest posts refer to Macklemore or to this controversy, though it seems so.

Image placeholder
Emily Carter
I cover the intersections between emerging scenes and the wider industry shifts shaping how music is created and consumed today. Based in London, I focus on stories that reveal the cultural and structural forces behind the sound. My work at The Sorrow aims to document what moves the industry forward long before it reaches the mainstream.