Burglars broke into a home in Seattle belonging to Macklemore over the weekend, spraying a nanny with bear mace and stealing “thousands of dollars of items” while three children were in the residence.
The incident occurred just after midnight on Saturday, June 7, in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, according to a police report obtained by Rolling Stone. The two suspects entered the house, confronted the nanny with the mace, then “ransacked the residence.” The suspects were reportedly inside the house for several minutes until the nanny was able to free herself and call 911. The suspects fled soon after. The children in the house were not harmed and were put in the care of family members.
While the police report noted that the house belonged to a “high-profile individual,” the name was redacted. The home address, however, matched those on Macklemore’s voting record, per The Seattle Times.
It does not appear that Macklemore was home at the time of the robbery. The musician played a pair of concerts in Ireland on June 4 and 5, and was scheduled to perform at a festival in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 8, but canceled his appearance at the last minute. The festival wrote in a statement, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Macklemore had to return to Seattle to attend to an urgent matter… This decision was not made lightly and we apologize to all his fans eager to see the show.”
A rep for Macklemore did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
According to the nanny, the robbery occurred not long after she had put the three children to bed. The nanny said the suspects entered via a patio door, confronted her, and sprayed her in the face with the mace. She said one suspect actually tried to help her clean it off her face “for some unexplainable reason.” While the nanny said this suspect looked “fearful,” the other one started yelling at her, “Where are the jewels, bitch?”
The nanny said she showed the men where the valuable items in the house were, and they took jewelry, watches, and shoes. The suspects also pushed the woman to the ground, took her phone, and tried to restrain her, but the nanny said she was able to get free by biting one of them. She then ran from the house and knocked on the doors of neighbors before one let her in and allowed her to call the police.
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The nanny also suggested to police that she thought the robbery could have been politically motivated, though the police report did not contain any further details or evidence related to this assumption. Macklemore has long been outspoken on a variety of issues, and has lately focused much of his energy on speaking out against Israel’s war in Gaza.
From Rolling Stone US
