Grammy-winning US rapper Macklemore apologized for wearing a costume that represents an anti-Semitic stereotype.
Macklemore said on his website he didn't mean to mock Jewish people by wearing a black wig, beard and hook nose during a performance in Seattle last week.
"We take him at his word that he did not have any ill-intent and unreservedly accept his apology," said Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham H. Foxman.
Macklemore wrote that he randomly chose the pieces of the costume he wore at Friday's performance so he could disguise himself and move freely around during the secret show. He said it wasn't meant to be a caricature of a Jewish man.
"I respect all cultures and all people," he wrote. "I would never intentionally put down anybody for the fabric that makes them who they are. I love human beings, love originality, and ... happen to love a weird outfit from time to time." Macklemore said he understood his detractors' point of view.
"I acknowledge how the costume could, within a context of stereotyping, be ascribed to a Jewish caricature," he added. "I am here to say that it was absolutely not my intention, and unfortunately at the time I did not foresee the costume to be viewed in such regard. I'm saddened that this story, or any of my choices, would lead to any form of negativity."