If we asked you to guess the rapper who was accused of Anti-Semitism during the last 24 hours, we doubt that Macklemore would have been your first choice, especially after his roles in promoting equality and gay rights. And yet that's exactly what happened after a show at the Experience Music Project Museum in the rapper's hometown of Seattle.
The rapper has been known to wear some bizarre outfits onstage but they generally fall in line with his hit single "Thrift Shop." Sunday's costume was a little more off-putting. Macklemore wore a black wig and an undeniably Hasidic-style beard. The coup de insulte was the particularly hooked prosthetic nose the performer was sporting.
"Only @macklemore could turn gentrification of hip hop into an anti-Semitic minstrel show," tweeted one affronted music fan. "Macklemore is an idiot," tweeted Gawker in more succinct fashion.
The rapper himself immediately took to social media to clear up the controversy, but he may have made things worse with his non-apology.
"A fake witches nose, wig, and beard = random costume," he posted. "Not my idea of a stereotype of anybody."
Perhaps, but surely someone as intelligent as Macklemore realizes that when you combine the relatively disparate elements of flour, sugar and eggs, it can result in delicious cookies. The moral: A witch nose takes on a new meaning when worn with a black beard that wraps around the face.
A point of interest is that some have theorized the rapper is himself Jewish, at least in family background. He's denied the claims before, but acknowledged having "hella good Jewish homies."
For shame, Macklemore.
