Seattle sports teams evaluate their relationships with Macklemore after controversial concert remarks

LOS ANGELES — Grammy-winning rapper Macklemore is facing fierce backlash after he was caught on video saying “F*** America” ​​on stage during a pro-Palestinian festival in Seattle on Saturday.

The Seattle Kraken and Seattle Sounders FC issued a joint statement saying they were aware of his “increasingly polarizing comments” and that they did not reflect their values.

Their statement is:

We believe that sports brings people together and unites us. We are aware of Macklemore's increasingly polarizing 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.

The response came early Monday evening after the 41-year-old used those words over the weekend during a “Palestine Will Live Forever Fest” in Seattle’s Seward Park.

On Tuesday, a Seattle Mariners spokesperson issued a statement to KOMO News regarding the rapper’s recent comments:

We are aware of the incident and agree with the other teams in the city: sport and music should unite, not divide. We continue to monitor and research the latest developments.

In a video In a video provided to KOMO News by Cam Higby of Today is America, who documented the event, Macklemore can be heard urging the festival audience to keep talking and then making the following comment:

I won't stop you. I won't stop you. Um, yeah, fuck America,

The comment was met with cheers from the crowd. It is not clear what he said before that.

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These words sparked a firestorm on social media.

One user on “X” wrote: “Shame. This country made Macklemore possible. Where else could he have become rich and famous?”

Another “X” user posted: “Artists often use their platform to challenge and provoke thought. I need to listen to his track 'American' to better understand his perspective.”

StandWithUs Northwest (SWUNW), an Israeli nonprofit educational organization, told KOMO News that Macklemore has “repeatedly demonstrated insensitivity toward Israeli victims of Palestinian terror.”

“He would be a more credible advocate for the Palestinian cause if he used his status to call for peace between the two peoples,” SWUNW Regional Director Randy Kessler wrote in a text message to KOMO News.

“I'm not really surprised, it disgusts me,” said Regina Sassoon Friedland, regional director of the American Jewish Committee Seattle. “Fighting for the Palestinian people is something. The greatest thing we can do for the Palestinian people is to free them from Hamas, from the tyranny of Hamas, a terrorist organization. They should not be ruled by Hamas, you cannot live like that.”

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Brooklen Weekley, who was at the event, said some media outlets reported that Macklemore led the crowd in anti-American chants. She told KOMO News that was not true, and that the chants were “Free Palestine.”

Weekley also shared some of the videos she took at the concert. She said she wouldn't talk about America like that, but added that while she knows she's not speaking for Macklemore, she thinks his commentary is more nuanced.

“When he said 'F*** America,' to me he was saying: We don't like what is being done to innocent civilians and children, and we want to change that,” Weekley said.

Weekley said she appreciated the singer's support and influence.

“I may disagree with what our country is doing and who we are funding and supporting, so we change it,” Weekley said, and that is her intention. “If you see something is morally and ethically wrong, you change it.”

In their video, Macklemore can be seen performing a song he released called “Hind's Hall,” which is named after the Columbia University building where pro-Palestinian students protested.

At one point on Saturday night, Macklemore told the crowd he didn't know anything about the Middle East conflict until the October 7, 2023, attack. Macklemore said he started studying the history and had to come to terms with it. In Weekley's video from the festival, Macklemore called it “a genocide” and said, “It's been like this since 1948.”

The rapper spoke openly about the war in the Gaza Strip and accused America of not taking what he considered to be a stronger stance.

“I think what he's missing most here is that Hamas is a terrorist organization. He said he was briefed on October 7, but nowhere does he mention that over 1,200 people were murdered, 250 were taken hostage, and that there are still 101 hostages in the air,” Sassoon Friedland said.

The rapper is a minority investor in the Seattle Kraken and an investor in the Seattle Sounders FC. Some fans have raised questions online about his relationship with the Mariners. One of his songs is often played during the 7th inning break at M's home games.

At the time of this writing, KOMO News has not received a response from the Mariners.

“I really hope that companies like the Kraken and the Mariners will rethink their relationships and cut ties immediately,” Sassoon Friedland said.

Macklemore appears to have remained silent since the controversy. KOMO News reached out to him via email but has not yet received a response.