14 DAY TRIAL // Well, at least he didn't play it dumb like Nick Cannon and his white-face stunt, but Macklemore did get more than one person riled up about portraying the Jewish in a mocking way. The famous musician is now under serious fire from fans and critics who are taking turns to blast him for showing up in what looked like a Jewish man costume at a concert in Seattle.
According to Gawker, the concert took place on Friday night and Macklemore invited Ryan Lewis on stage with him to perform in their hometown Seattle, honoring a new exhibit at the EMP museum. The performance would have surely gone unnoticed were it not for the fact that Macklemore took the stage dressed in a costume that many associated with the stereotype of the greedy, hook-nosed Jewish man.
This is confusing and offensive on so many different levels that it's hard to wrap your mind around it. Keep in mind that Macklemore is considered to be a progressive musician, featuring social messages in his songs, speaking of tolerance and racial equality.
What the rapper has made clear is the fact that racial equality doesn't include the Jews. Fans immediately took to social media to blast the rapper for his irresponsible behavior, to which he quickly replied on Twitter, trying to explain his actions.
Basically, Macklemore feigned ignorance claiming that “A fake witches nose, wig, and beard = random costume. Not my idea of a stereotype of anybody.” Furthermore, the rapper used the ultimate excuse to end all racial doubts, more commonly used by people in African-American argument, “I'm not a racist, I have lots of African-American friends.”
The rapper tweeted something in the same lines when he replied to a fan who asked him if he was Jewish, “nah. Just got hell good Jewish homies,” which actually made people even angrier.
You see, even if Macklemore was ignorant to the issue, which is quite hard to believe since he himself confessed to having many good Jewish friends, it's still kind of a big deal because ignorance is probably the worst thing you can quote in a situation like this.
Not knowing that your costume is offensive is equally damnable as knowing and showing up in it, nonetheless. Little did the rapper know that his stunt would stir up some deep feelings and ignite a storm which has all its fury pointed at him.