Macklemore is doing all he can to distance himself from the offensive get-up he wore during a secret show last weekend.
Realizing that the 140-character-limit of Twitter was not enough to deal with the uproar his costume caused, the “Thrift Store” rapper took to his Tumblr to try to explain his actions on Monday.
“Family, friends and fans alike who know me well, know that I’m absolutely not the person described in certain headlines today,” the Grammy winner wrote. “There is no worse feeling than being misunderstood, especially when people are hurt or offended.”
In the missive, Macklemore, 30, tries to make clear he thought his costume was “ambiguous” when he picked it out, and that if anything, he thought it resembled Ringo Starr or Abraham Lincoln.
“The character I dressed up as on Friday had no intended cultural identity or background,” he wrote. “I wasn’t attempting to mimic any culture, nor resemble one. A ‘Jewish stereotype’ never crossed my mind.”
From there, the rapper wrote that while he can now see how his costume may have been misconstrued, most of the claims of anti-Semitism are the result of media sensationalism, and that he just wanted to wear a “weird” costume and show his and Ryan Lewis’ fans a good time.
“Thus, it was surprising and disappointing that the images of a disguise were sensationalized leading to the immediate assertion that my costume was anti-Semetic [sic],” he wrote. “I acknowledge how the costume could, within a context of stereotyping, be ascribed to a Jewish caricature. I am here to say that it was absolutely not my intention, and unfortunately at the time I did not foresee the costume to be viewed in such regard.”
The rapper, who signed the note with his real name, Ben, concluded his post with a link to the Anti-Defamation League.