Seattle sports teams are evaluating their relationships with Macklemore after controversial concert remarks

SEATTLE- Rapper and Grammy winner Macklemore is facing backlash after a video showed him saying “F*** America” ​​on stage during a pro-Palestine festival in Seattle on Saturday.

The Seattle Kraken and Seattle Sounders FC said in a joint statement that they are aware of his “increasingly divisive comments” and that they do not reflect their values.

Your statement is:

We believe that sport brings people together and unites us. We are aware of Macklemore's increasingly controversial comments and do not reflect the values ​​of our respective ownership groups, leagues or organizations. We are currently reviewing our joint options on this matter.

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

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Seattle Mariners provided KOMO News with a statement 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 one video Provided to KOMO News by Cam Higby with Today is America, who documented the event, Macklemore can be heard urging the festival audience to keep talking, then making this comment:

I won't stop you. I won't stop you. Um, yeah, F*** America,

The comment was followed by cheers from the crowd. It's not clear what he said before.

RELATED | Macklemore tells “F*** America” at pro-Palestine concert: “Straight up”

These words caused a firestorm on social media.

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

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

StandWithUs Northwest (SWUNW), an Israeli educational nonprofit, told KOMO News that Macklemore has “repeatedly shown 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 two peoples,” SWUNW regional director Randy Kessler wrote in a text to KOMO News.

“It doesn’t really surprise me, I’m disgusted by it,” said Regina Sassoon Friedland, the American Jewish Committee Seattle regional director. “The fight for the Palestinian people is something. The greatest thing we can do for the Palestinian people is to free them from Hamas, the tyranny of Hamas, a terrorist organization. They should not be ruled by Hamas, that is not a way of life.”

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

Weekley also shared some of the videos she shot at the concert. She said she wouldn't speak about America in that way, but added that while she was clear she wasn't speaking for Macklemore, she thought his comment was more nuanced.

“When he said 'F*** America,' to me it was more of an attitude that we don't like what's being done to innocent civilians and children and we want to change that,” Weekley said.

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

“I may not agree with what our country is doing and who we are funding and who we are supporting. That's why we're changing it,” Weekley said that's what she plans to do. “If you see something is morally and ethically wrong, fix it.”

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

At some point Saturday evening, Macklemore told the crowd that he knew nothing about the Middle East conflict until the attack on October 7, 2023. Macklemore said he started learning about history and had to embrace it. In Weekley's video from the festival, Macklemore called it “a genocide” and said, “This has been happening since 1948.”

The rapper has been vocal about the war in Gaza and criticized America for not taking what he believes is a tougher stance.

“I think the main thing he's missing is that Hamas is a terrorist organization… He said he read up on October 7, but nowhere does he mention that over 1,200 people were murdered and 250 were taken hostage, and “There are still 101 hostages now,” said Sassoon Friedland.

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

At this time, KOMO News has not heard back from the Mariners.

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

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