Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett Defends Macklemore’s Unbudging Advocacy for Palestine

Macklemore’s relentless calls for Palestinian liberation have drawn plenty of backlash over the past few years, but Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett has made it clear that he is firmly in the rapper’s corner. The Seattle native opened for Ed Sheeran at two shows in New Jersey last weekend and used his platform to advocate for those under Israeli occupation. On the first night, he told the crowd that part of the reason he joined the tour was to say “Free Palestine” in stadiums across the country to let people in Gaza and the West Bank know they haven’t been forgotten. This drew criticism from P!NK and Boy George, while the Israeli-American Council launched a petition urging Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the remainder of the tour. Amid the uproar, Shiflett waded into the debate. Inactive on social media for the most part, he began responding to posts on X after one user argued that the “Thrift Shop” hitmaker had violated the unwritten etiquette of touring by airing his political beliefs while opening for an artist who fills stadiums. “Maybe speaking out against genocide trumps etiquette,” Shiflett responded to guitarist Joe Bonamassa, pointing out that the crowd appeared rec...