Macklemore did a show in his hometown of Seattle on Friday, at the opening of the “Spectacle: The Music Video” exhibit at the EMP Museum, and for some mind-fuckingly inexplicable reason, decided to perform in a cobbled-together costume that left him looking like nothing so much as a Jewish man as seen through the eyes of a Third Reich propaganda cartoonist. (That’s Mack in the photo above, courtesy of Ian de Borja via Twitter.) As you might imagine, reactions (on Twitter, anyway) ranged from apathy to bewilderment to rage.

Earlier today, Macklemore responded to the controversy by saying it was nothing more than a “random costume”:

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

— Macklemore (@macklemore) May 19, 2014

I’m inclined to take the guy at his word here, if only because it’s impossible to imagine anyone — especially a mainstream entertainer — could be so blatantly insensitive on purpose. It’s probably similar to what happened that time Elaine’s fountain pen exploded and she got ink all over Mr. Pitt’s upper lip and lapels just before he had to give that speech to the board of directors at Moland Spring. Still, though. Next time just go with a Scream mask, dude!