Grammy Award-Winning Rapper Denies 'Jewish Caricature' Costume Was Supposed to Be Anything of the Sort

Grammy Award-winning rapper Macklemore is denying that he was portraying a stereotype after performing in a large prosthetic nose and fake beard that struck many people as blatantly anti-Semitic.

Photos from a Seattle performance Friday night show Macklemore wearing a fake wig, beard and outsized hooked nose — some of the hallmarks of classic Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda. He was performing his hit song, "Thrift Shop."

The Daily Dot website described Macklemore as "dressed as some kind of Jewish caricature, prosthetic schnozz included."

Yes, that's @macklemore. He & @RyanLewis played a surprise performance @EMPmuseum tonight: https://t.co/Pb10sh2HtL pic.twitter.com/ARjJ1xjoZS

— Seattle Refined (@SeattleRefined) May 17, 2014

Check out @macklemore performing “Thrift Shop” as a stereotypical Jewish man. So much for same love, eh? pic.twitter.com/yZ19QmxIV0

— Ian de Borja (@idb1204) May 19, 2014

Actor Seth Rogan derided Macklemore and his costume choice, tweeting: ".@macklemore, first you trick people into thinking you're a rapper, now you trick them into thinking you're Jewish?"

Getty Images/Frazer Harrison

But in a tweet early Monday, Macklemore claimed the getup was just a "random costume."

"A fake witches nose, wig, and beard = random costume. Not my idea of a stereotype of anybody," he tweeted.

Rogan replied: "really?? Because if I told someone to put together an anti Semitic Jew costume, they'd have that exact shopping list."

Macklemore has said he is not Jewish.

As the hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, the pair performed their hit "Same Love" at the Grammy Awards in January as Queen Latifah officiated the weddings of dozens of gay couples.

This post has been updated.