{"id":779902,"date":"2026-09-23T11:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/779902\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T11:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:12:17","slug":"javier-bardem-shares-petition-to-remove-pink-as-unicef-ambassador-over-macklemore-palestine-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/779902\/","title":{"rendered":"Javier Bardem shares petition to remove Pink as UNICEF ambassador over Macklemore Palestine row"},"content":{"rendered":"

Javier Bardem<\/a> has shared a petition calling for Pink<\/a> to be removed as a UNICEF ambassador over her response to Macklemore<\/a>\u2019s recent pro-Palestine comments.<\/p>\n

The actor re-shared several posts to his Instagram Stories on Monday (September 21) encouraging his followers to sign a Change.org petition<\/a> asking UNICEF to remove the singer from the role.<\/p>\n

The petition, which was launched on September 11 by a group calling itself Swifties Against Genocide, has now surpassed 179,000 signatures.<\/p>\n

It argues that Pink\u2019s recent comments are \u201cincompatible with the role of a UNICEF Ambassador\u201d and calls for the organisation to take \u201cdecisive action\u201d by removing her.<\/p>\n

Pink has been a UNICEF ambassador since 2015, working in particular to raise awareness of the organisation\u2019s global health and nutrition programmes for children.<\/p>\n

The row began after Macklemore made an impassioned speech while supporting Ed Sheeran<\/a> at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey earlier this month.<\/p>\n

During shows on September 4 and 5<\/a>, the rapper called for \u201call human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality\u201d, said he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know \u201cthey have not been forgotten\u201d, and declared \u201cFree Palestine\u201d before performing his song \u2018Hind\u2019s Hall\u2019 as footage from Gaza was shown on the screens behind him.<\/p>\n

Pink subsequently shared an Instagram post from the group StopAntisemitism that criticised the set, describing Macklemore\u2019s performance as \u201canti-Israel propaganda\u201d and disputing his characterisation of Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza as genocide.<\/p>\n

She later addressed the backlash at length<\/a>, explaining that she did not agree with all of the language in the post she had shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cA repost isn\u2019t a statement, and a meme isn\u2019t a spine,\u201d she wrote. \u201cSocial media makes all of us cheap and fast, and we all know it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pink said her objection had not been to Macklemore saying \u201cFree Palestine\u201d or to his right to do so, and insisted she had not called for him to lose his place on the tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I\u2019m not asking now,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t need anyone fired, and I don\u2019t need a refund.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macklemore subsequently defended his New Jersey speech<\/a>, saying: \u201cWanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Israeli-American Council separately called for him to be removed from Sheeran\u2019s tour, claiming that he had used the concerts to \u201cadvance a one-sided political agenda\u201d.<\/p>\n

Macklemore was later dropped from the remaining shows<\/a>, with Gillette Stadium owner Robert Kraft saying that he found the rapper\u2019s comments \u201cdeeply offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sheeran later said he was \u201cnot complicit\u201d in the decision<\/a>, saying that the final call was made by promoter Messina Touring Group after venues objected to Macklemore appearing.\u00a0All of the remaining support acts and Sheeran\u2019s backing band subsequently withdrew from the tour<\/a> in response to Macklemore being dropped.<\/p>\n

Macklemore later pledged his entire $1million earnings from the tour to six organisations providing support to Palestinians<\/a>, while Kraft said Sheeran had asked him to match a $2million humanitarian contribution.<\/p>\n

Bardem, meanwhile, has repeatedly used his public platform to speak in support of Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Last year, he was among thousands of film workers to sign a Film Workers For Palestine pledge not to work with Israeli film institutions the group said were implicated in the war in Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He subsequently clarified that the boycott was intended to hold \u201ccompanies and institutions\u201d accountable rather than Israeli individuals<\/a>, saying: \u201cWe do not discriminate against any person based on their nationality, race, religion, or gender.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the 2026 Oscars<\/a>, Bardem declared \u201cno to war and free Palestine\u201d while presenting Best International Film, and argued that people in the movie industry should also act as citizens who use their platforms to \u201cdenounce injustice\u201d.<\/p>\n

He continued to speak about the issue at Cannes in May, where he said those in Hollywood who sought to blacklist actors for speaking in support of Palestine would \u201cbe exposed\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Javier Bardem has shared a petition calling for Pink to be removed as a UNICEF ambassador over her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,229,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-779902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-politics","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}