Coldplay Fans Pan Singer Chris Martin’s ‘Mortifying’ Treatment of Israeli Fans at London Concert
‘You’re better than this. Or at least I thought so,’ one Israeli fan writes.
Just weeks after making headlines for taking the lid off an explicit workplace affair, Coldplay’s Chris Martin is once again in the spotlight — this time for his response when two fans he called to the stage identified themselves as Israeli.
“Coldplay invited two women on stage then berates them and makes them feel bad for…being Israeli,” a Jewish podcaster, Yaakov Langer, wrote online. Mr. Langer accused the rock star of failing to treat the women “like human beings” and called Mr. Martin’s actions “disgusting.”
The uncomfortable encounter occurred during Coldplay’s Sunday night concert at London’s Wembley Stadium when Mr. Martin called up two young fans to the stage and asked them where they were from. When the duo identified themselves as Israeli, the audience responded with a mix of boos and cheers.
Mr. Martin, looking visibly uncomfortable, responded: “Okay, well listen — I’m very grateful that you’re here as humans, and I am treating you as equal humans on earth, regardless of where you come from or don’t come from. Although it’s controversial maybe, I also want to welcome people in the audience from Palestine because … out of the belief that we’re all equal humans.”
While Mr. Martin’s comment drew applause from the audience, footage of the exchange quickly went viral and sparked outrage among members of the Jewish community.
A nonprofit made up of entertainment industry members dedicated to promoting peace in the Middle East and combating antisemitism, Creative Community for Peace, condemned Mr. Martin for his apparent attempts to “balance” the women’s Israeli identities by mentioning Palestine instead of simply defending his fans from the hostile crowd reaction.
“Why did Israelis need to be reminded they will be treated as humans? Aren’t Israelis humans already? This is exactly the dehumanization Jews face again and again, and it’s shameful that it played out on a stage meant for music and unity,” the group shared on X.
A pro-Israel campus advocacy group, Maccabee Task Force, chided Mr. Martin for not allowing Israelis to celebrate their identity on stage without being “reassured by a celebrity that they’re ‘human'” and told him to “have a backbone.”
The incident particularly resonated with Coldplay’s Israeli fanbase. An Israeli citizen, Yaron Samid, who described himself as a “deeply disappointed fan,” took to X to explain why Mr. Martin’s “slip up” was “especially hurtful.”
“Chris, you’ve always seemed to be a kind, loving person that used music to bring people together,” Mr. Samid wrote on Monday. “This was a tactless misstep that further tears people apart and deeply hurts some of your most loyal fans. I hope you can take a quiet moment to look back at your choice of words and realize they came from a place of growing prejudice against Israeli people that have been drawn into a war they never asked for.”
Mr. Samid, who shared that he and his wife had traveled around the world to see Coldplay perform on several occasions, closed out his message by telling the “Vida la Vida” singer, “You’re better than this. Or at least I thought so.”
Journalist Eve Barlow, who is Jewish, highlighted the impact of the “mortifying” moment on the two fans themselves. “Imagine being called up to be celebrated as fans of your favorite band and it is turned into an opportunity to qualify your existence in front of an audience of tens of thousands,” Ms. Barlow wrote.
In a post-concert interview with Israel’s Kan News, the two women shared that they had briefly considered concealing their nationality.
“There was a split second that we considered saying we are from Malta, and then I said ‘Israeli,’” one of the women explained. “We couldn’t and didn’t want to lie. It was a bit scary that 90,000 people know we are from here, but we said it.”
This latest controversy comes just months after Mr. Martin accidentally publicized a tech entrepreneur’s workplace romance with his head of human relations via a viral jumbotron moment that broke the internet.
