Chris Martin’s comments to Israeli fans at Coldplay concert ignite furious backlash

At Coldplay’s recent Wembley Stadium concert, frontman Chris Martin sparked controversy after inviting two fans from Israel on stage. When their nationality drew boos from the audience, Martin responded by calling them “equal humans” and later extended a welcome to Palestinians as well.

The moment, captured on video, spread widely online, drawing intense backlash from some Jewish and Israeli commentators who called his phrasing “dehumanizing,” while pro-Palestine voices mocked the outrage.

Chris Martin welcomes Israeli and Palestinian fans

During the Coldplay concert at London’s Wembley Stadium on Sunday, Martin brought on two young fans and asked them where they were from. Repeating the word “Israel” into the mic elicited some boos from the crowd.

Martin’s response to this soon became a viral clip.

“I’m very grateful that you’re here as humans, and I’m treating you as equal humans on Earth, regardless of where you come from or don’t come from,” he said. “Thank you for being here. We’re grateful and thank you for being loving and kind.”

He then moved on to acknowledge potential Palestinian attendees.

“And although it’s controversial, maybe, I also want to welcome people in the audience from Palestine, because I believe that we’re all equally human.”

Jewish and Israeli users call Chris Martin’s comments offensive

The backlash against Martin spread across X on Monday. Israeli security expert Casey Babb compared the frontman’s actions to how Nazis treated Jewish people during the Holocaust.

“For centuries, Jews inside and outside Israel have been treated and made to feel impure, less than, and devalued,” he wrote. “During the Holocaust, the Nazis referred to us as rats. Our slaughterers – from Castile, to Hebron, Baghdad, Kielce and Be’eri – viewed us as sub-human to justify the killing.”

“So, when you sit there and say ‘We are treating you as equal humans on earth, regardless of where you come from,’ you aren’t, in fact, doing something righteous – you’re looking at those girls in the face and saying ‘We know you aren’t equal, nor human, but tonight, we can pretend you are.’”

Meanwhile, “avid fan” @yaronsamid wrote, “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.”

User @jacklanger accused Martin of scolding the young women for their nationality.

“Coldplay invited two women on stage then berates them and makes them feel bad for…being Israeli,” he said. “He didn’t mention the hostages being held by Hamas.”

“He didn’t actually treat them like human beings.”

The backlash to the backlash followed the next day. In response to the above tweet, popular user @KrangTNelson encouraged others to “watch this video and see what this professional victim calls ‘berating.’”

Some pro-Palestine users appeared to find the negative reactions to Martin’s statements bizarre. Reacting to Eve Barlow’s reaction, @adamjohnsonCHI offered a concise joke.

“Meanwhile on Earth 2,” he wrote.

“If you were wondering what Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, said to trigger such a reaction it was ‘so glad to have you here’ and ‘i want to say welcome to all the Palestinians as well,’” said @meowlord13.

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