On Friday, Macklemore performed "Thrift Shop" at EMP dressed up as what I immediately recognize as a Jewish caricature. What. the. fuck:


Perhaps Macklemore (real name Ben Haggerty) didn't realize it at the time, but for someone who's devoted so many verses to discussion of white and straight privilege, one would expect him to know better. Actor Seth Rogen, who is Jewish, said today:
What's stunning is that apparently no one at the concert, including journalists from the Seattle Times and Seattle Weekly, either noticed or was bothered enough to remark on this. I learned of it via Rogen's tweet, but it's already been picked up by national outlets, including Buzzfeed.

"Could it be that no one in a city famed for its political correctness wanted to bother with backlash?" asks The Daily Dot. "If so, this weirdo is far more powerful than we feared."

Macklemore's agents did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

UPDATE 12:00 A.M.: Macklemore responds.


Ah. The old, "I didn't mean anything bad by it, so it's ok!" response.

Racism 101, people: Being told you did something racist, especially by members of a group that suffers from said racism, is not an invitation to take it personally and defend your intentions one way or the other. It's about taking a step back and evaluating whether your behavior is racist—if it results in discrimination or reinforces racial hierarchies or plays on ethnic tropes, for example. Rogen just retweeted this:


Try again, Mack.