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Actor Javier Bardem has stepped into the middle of the controversy surrounding Pink, Macklemore and the Israel-Gaza conflict — and is now taking heat for it.
The “No Country for Old Men” star shared multiple posts to his Instagram Stories Monday urging followers to sign a Change.org petition demanding that Pink be removed as a UNICEF ambassador, according to Reuters.
The petition Bardem promoted, titled “Remove Pink as a UNICEF Ambassador,” calls on the organization to remove the singer from her position.
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Javier Bardem promoted a petition calling for Pink to be removed from her UNICEF ambassador role following controversy involving Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian performance. (Getty Images)
Supporters argue that Pink’s comments are “incompatible with the role of a UNICEF Ambassador” and say ambassadors should promote “peace, understanding, and humanitarian values above personal biases.”
The petition urges UNICEF to “take decisive action and remove Pink as an ambassador,” arguing that the organization must remain committed to all children regardless of “nationality or heritage.”
Bardem’s move drew pushback from fans and fellow celebrities who questioned why the actor was backing an effort to strip Pink of her UNICEF title over comments she made after Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian concert appearance.
Michael Rapaport delivered one of the most blistering responses, mocking Bardem as a “tattletale” and accusing the actor of going after Pink through a petition rather than confronting her directly.
He wrote in an Instagram caption: “Javier Bar-Dumb Dumb initiated,signed & is promoting a petition to have singer PINK removed as a UNICEF Ambassador. He’s is Bullying a Proud Jewish Woman.”
Rapaport continued in his video: “Javier Bar-Dumb Dumb. Javier Bardem, what the f— are you doing, you little tattle-tale? Hall monitor … you are a grown man, a grown f—ing man. Pink is a grown woman. You’re both world-famous. If you have a problem with what she said, call her. Sit her down, have a coffee, look her dead in the face and express all and any frustrations and questions you have … instead you sign a petition, like a little b—- to have her removed as a UNICEF ambassador. What the f— is wrong with you?”
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Michael Rapaport criticized Javier Bardem after the actor promoted a petition targeting Pink over her response to the controversy surrounding Macklemore. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)
Selma Blair also weighed in in the comment section, writing: “Why would anyone want this great removed from unicef for human , humble and loving words? This makes no sense. I would think the terrifically talented actor man would worry about his own incredible life more. And allow love to flow. And listen to everybody. Not just his echo chamber. But alas.”
Bardem’s decision to promote the petition also drew criticism from social media users, with commenters questioning why the actor was pushing for Pink’s removal over her comments.
One commenter wrote: “I’m not a big Pink fan…I like her music okay, but she was one of the many performers who actually did ads for Big Pharma pushing the vax during covid. That said, who the hell is Bardem to cancel her? The left is eating itself.”
Meanwhile, supporters of Bardem’s position also commented on the petition.
“Pink chose her and her rich friends’ discomfort was more important than people’s lives,” one commenter wrote, adding that if UNICEF does not “stand with Gaza now and remove Pink,” then “the world is a much darker place.”
Another argued, “No ambassador can call attention to important issues while actively ignoring and deliberately misunderstanding and misrepresenting the conditions in Palestine. Pink has shown herself incapable of even acknowledging what is clear to the world, and is not fit to serve UNICEF.”
A third commenter questioned how Pink could remain a UNICEF advocate while, in their view, failing to support “basic human rights and free speech for all people, especially those in Gaza, the Sudan and the Congo.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Bardem, UNICEF and Pink for comment.
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Ed Sheeran and Macklemore attend the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
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The petition Bardem promoted centers on Pink’s response to Macklemore’s appearance with Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sept. 4.
Macklemore performed “Hind’s Hall,” his song supporting Palestinians, while repeatedly chanting “Free Palestine” as images related to Gaza appeared on a screen behind him.
The performance sparked criticism from the @Stop_Antisemitism Instagram account, which accused Macklemore of using the concert to push “anti-Israel propaganda.”
Pink faced backlash after reposting the criticism and subsequently issued her own lengthy explanation.
Pink faced backlash after reposting criticism of Macklemore’s performance of “Hind’s Hall” at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Christopher Polk/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)
“I’ve been quiet in my own words for a week, which you know isn’t like me. So here they are,” she wrote on social media.
“I was born a Jew,” Pink continued. “I didn’t pick it, and I’ve never hidden it.”
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She also addressed her position on the conflict.
“Of course I don’t speak for Israel, or for any government. I never have,” Pink wrote. “What I said in October 2023 is still exactly what I believe: Hamas is a terrorist organization. Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations. Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child. Anybody’s child.”
Pink also cited her years of work with UNICEF, saying she had spent time with children “on both sides of that fence.”
“I’m not going to litigate a complex war in an Instagram caption, and I’m not going to recite anybody’s slogan to earn back a follower,” she wrote.
Pink went on to explain that what she was “reacting to” was Macklemore himself. She recalled him performing his song “Same Love” at the Grammys in 2014, and how she cheered on the message, but “Four months later Macklemore put on a hooked nose, a black beard and a bowl cut, performed in it, and called it a ‘random costume.'”
Pink wrote in her statement about Macklemore that she’d been working with UNICEF for years. (Lorne Thomson/Redferns)
“Every Jew I know knew exactly what it was. The same love, it turned out, had a guest list, and we weren’t on it. But he apologized, and I let it go, because that’s what we do. We let it go. Then last weekend he stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them.”
She added, “You don’t get to decide that for us.”
“That’s what prompted my repost,” she wrote. “Not ‘Free Palestine,’ and not anyone’s right to say it. I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund. What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘that scared me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I’m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed?”
Macklemore performed “Hind’s Hall” during Ed Sheeran’s concert at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 4, where the rapper repeatedly chanted “Free Palestine.” (Kieran Frost/Redferns)
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The controversy surrounding Macklemore’s stage appearance continued after the MetLife Stadium performance. Macklemore later posted a video on Instagram addressing the crowd and said performing on Sheeran’s tour gave him the opportunity to deliver his “Free Palestine” message to a massive audience.
Macklemore doubled down in the caption and wrote, “Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.”
He was later dropped from the tour altogether after venues told the tour’s promoters that they would “not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.”
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