US rapper Macklemore has touched down at the Sydney International airport ahead of his much-talked about NRL grand final performance.
The Grammy-winning artist was pictured at the city’s airport flanked by security guards on Saturday morning.
Conservative commentators hit out at the US star, who is set to perform his marriage gay anthem Same Love at ANZ Stadium on Sunday night, when Melbourne and North Queensland face off in the rugby league decider.
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American rapper Macklemore has arrived at the Sydney International Airport on Saturday
Macklemore was seen looking relaxed and even obliged to take a selfie with a waiting fan
The rapper will perform at the NRL grand final performance in the ANZ stadium on Sunday
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg had earlier said that he did not regret choosing the rapper, labelling it one of the bravest decisions the league had made for pre-match entertainment.
The NRL and AFL have backed the yes campaign in the same-sex marriage postal survey.
However, the rapper has now had to dodge fresh allegations of being a 9/11 conspiracy theorist.
Liberal senator Eric Abetz and former Labor leader Mark Latham are among those who have criticised the rapper’s statement that ‘Bush knocked down the towers’.
Despite the ongoing controversy, Macklemore looked relaxed and even obliged to a selfie with a waiting fan.
He was seen looking comfortable in a white Ralph Lauren hooded jumper with matching track pants.
His ensemble was paired with a chilly red sunglasses and a white sneakers.
The rapper had boasted about the warm welcome he received on Instagram by the ARL when he hotel room was filled with a pile of Australian snacks.
‘Yo the NRl hooked me up I got some Tim Tams, I got some Arnoits (sic), some Anzacs, some koalas, a hat, some jerseys. Let’s go, it’s time!’ Mackelmore said on Instagram.
Macklemore has boasted of being treated with some yummy Aussie snacks on Instagram
Mr Latham took to Twitter to express his disgust with the NRL’s choice of artist, asking how Malcolm Turnbull could support Macklemore and call him a great artist.
‘For the Australians who died in 9/11, imagine the disrespect in paying this guy to perform at NRL Grand Final,’ he wrote.
‘By dishonouring truth of 9/11 he dishonours [the] memory of Australians who died that day.’
Meanwhile, Mary Lambert the singer who appears on the controversial Macklemore track has hit out at their critics.
Mary Lambert (pictured) appears on the controversial Macklemore track Same Love
Macklemore is seen looking relaxed in a matching white hooded jumper and track pants
Ms Lambert said Same Love is a love song and not political, and revealed she is more anxious than ever before in the lead-up to their performance.
‘It’s the people [who oppose gay marriage] that are unhappy, that are sad, that are sexually repressed, that are miserable who want other people to be miserable too,’ she told The Saturday Telegraph.
She suggested people who are against same-sex marriage might be gay themselves, singling out former prime minister Tony Abbott in a statement to The Advocate.
‘Well, Mr. Tony Abbott: Gay people exist, they will continue to exist, and I bet you some of them are rugby players and fans that are carrying unnecessary shame that you continue to perpetuate,’ she said.
‘I’ve repeatedly found that the people who scream the loudest in opposition to gay marriage are often those who are uncomfortable with their own sexuality.
The musician paired the comfortable look with a chilly red sunglasses and white sneakers
‘Some of the worst homophobes in my life eventually came out as gay.’
After the NRL’s decision to choose the Grammy-winning artist provoked outrage from the ‘no’ campaign he is now taking flack for comments about 9/11.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Same Love was one of the singer’s top songs and the NRL backed same-sex marriage.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott (centre) has slammed the NRL for inviting the rapper to perform at the grand final, saying footy fans should not be subjected to a politicised grand final
‘What’s the problem,’ he told the Nine Network on Friday. ‘I look forward to it.’
‘If people want to express views on songs or anything else they’re entitled to do so, but I’m for free speech and in this case for the artist’s right to sing his song.’
Mackelmore’s media conference planned for Friday afternoon in Sydney was cancelled after the US rapper forgot his passport.
‘Footy fans shouldn’t be subjected to a politicised grand final. Sport is sport,’ Mr Abbott wrote on Twitter on Tuesday
Former prime minister Tony Abbott and right-wing independent MP Bob Katter have slammed the NRL for inviting the rapper to perform at the grand final, saying footy fans should not be subjected to a politicised grand final.
Senior coalition figure George Brandis criticised Mr Abbott for his selective backing of free speech.
‘For Mr Abbott and anyone else to say that it should be banned I think is a bizarre thing to say. I thought Mr Abbott believed in freedom of speech,’ he told ABC TV on Thursday.