Macklemore Apologises For 'Anti-Semitic' Costume

US hip-hop star Macklemore has had to do some significant back-pedalling this week after the costume he wore at a Seattle concert on Friday night sparked accusations of anti-Semitism, with the rapper last night (AEST) posting an official statement of apology on his website.

"Family, friends and fans alike who know me well, know that I'm absolutely not the person described in certain headlines today," he wrote. "There is no worse feeling than being misunderstood, especially when people are hurt or offended."

For those who missed the original brouhaha, the threads in question - apparently donned as a disguise to allow uninhibited movement before the show - consisted of a fake, oversize nose, black beard and wig, and black suit. Macklemore has remained adamant that he was not intentionally trying to channel any specific cultural stereotype in the wake of the uproar.

Strangely, though, the Thrift Shop scribe goes beyond mere apology and treads dangerously close to painting himself as the unfortunate victim of a targeted media campaign, rather than just being a guy who regrets that he didn't give a lot of thought to his choice of dress.

As he opined in his apology:

"On Friday night we had a surprise show at the EMP Museum in Seattle.  Earlier in the day I thought it would be fun to dress up in a disguise and go incognito to the event, so that I could walk around unnoticed and surprise the crowd with a short performance.  I picked up a bunch of fake mustaches and beards and grabbed a left over wig from our recent trip to Japan.

"As it turns out the fake noses they sell at the costume store are usually big (my nose didn't fit most of them).  So I ended up with a big witch nose.  I went with a black beard, because that's the furthest color from my natural hair.  Disguise was the intention.  I personally thought I looked very ambiguous in terms of any 'type' of person.  Some people there thought I looked like Ringo, some Abe Lincoln. If anything I thought I looked like Humpty Hump with a bowl cut ... The character I dressed up as on Friday had no intended cultural identity or background.  I wasn't attempting to mimic any culture, nor resemble one.  A 'Jewish stereotype' never crossed my mind."

Intent (or lack thereof), of course, does not absolve one of a bad decision, with the denizens of Twitter being swift to call the musician out, including the so-ubiquitous-right-now Seth Rogen.

Macklemore goes on to say that the consequent media backlash was "surprising and disappointing", though he does acknowledge that he now sees how the sum of the costume's parts could be taken in a negative or offensive way.

"Unfortunately at the time I did not foresee the costume to be viewed in such regard," he wrote in his apology.

"I'm saddened that this story, or any of my choices, would lead to any form of negativity."

You can read Macklemore's full apology at his website.