Macklemore Axed from Neon City Festival after Anti-American Outburst

By
Carol Kay
-
10

Rapper Macklemore has found himself removed from the lineup of the Neon City Festival in downtown, drawing the inaugural music event its first national attention. During a performance at the Palestine Will Live Forever Festival in Seattle on Saturday night, the 41-year-old artist sent shockwaves through the crowd by shouting, “Fuck America!”

“Straight up, say it!” Macklemore, whose legal name is Ben Haggerty, continued. “I’m not going to stop you. Um, yeah, fuck America!”


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Macklemore, a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, used his platform to express frustration and anger over the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza. The festival aimed to raise funds for organizations including the United Nations Relief & Works Agency.

Macklemore’s tirade coincided with the debut of a new song, “Hind’s Hall 2,” a sequel to “Hind’s Hall,” released in May. The song’s title references Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall, renamed in April by student protesters to honor Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed alongside her family by Israeli forces.

“Hind’s Hall 2” reportedly includes the following lyrics:

Hey Kamala, I don’t know if you listening

But stop sending money and weapons, you ain’t winning Michigan.

We uncommitted, and hell no, we ain’t switching positions.

Michigan has one of America’s largest Arab-American populations.

Neon City’s organizers reacted swiftly, dropping Macklemore on Tuesday, citing “unforeseen circumstances” in their statement to the media. Macklemore had been one of the five headliners announced for the downtown Las Vegas festival, which is set to coincide with F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend from Nov. 22-24.

With Macklemore’s exit, festival organizers are now scrambling to fill the gap. Their statement ended with, “We are excited to announce new artists joining the NCF lineup shortly.”

The fallout extended beyond Las Vegas. In Seattle, the professional hockey and soccer teams, Kraken and Sounders, who are partially owned by Macklemore, issued a joint statement: “We believe that sports bring people together and unite us. We are aware of Macklemore’s increasingly divisive 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.”