Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has sparked a row after saying Macklemore shouldn't be allowed to perform his hit 'Same Love' in Australia this weekend.
The US rapper will perform the song, which supports same-sex love, at the NRL Grand Final in Sydney on Sunday. An angry Mr Abbott has tweeted: "Footy fans shouldn't be subjected to a politicised grand final. Sport is sport!"
The Australian government is currently holding a controversial postal survey about whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.
Macklemore has hit back, telling a US radio show: "I'm getting a lot of tweets from angry old white dudes in Australia.
"It's interesting because I am playing 'Same Love', and they are going through, right now, trying to legalise same sex marriage."
He said that despite the criticism: "Imma go harder, Imma love."
Mr Abbott also retweeted a petition that is attempting to ban Macklemore from performing.
The petition was started by former NRL player Tony Wall who wrote: "It will be very difficult to watch the NRL Grand Final with my wife and five young children as the event will be heavily politicised with a LGBTIQ anthem taking centre stage."
Mr Abbott is being labelled a hypocrite on Twitter, with people posting photos of him posing with sports stars while he was the Prime Minister of Australia - while others are supporting his call to stop Macklemore.
The NRL franchise has formally announced its support for legalising same sex marriage, while Mr Abbott has been vocal in his opposition to it calling it a "frontal attack on traditional values".
Newshub.
