Talk Show Late Night Berlin Disinvites Rapper Nura over Her Instagram Story with “Free Palestine” Slogan

On October 9, 2023, the German talk show Late Night Berlin disinvited the Eritrean-German rapper Nura after her posting of an Instagram Story with a picture including the slogan, “Free Palestine”.

Nura was originally invited to join the show moderated by Klaas Heufer-Umlauf on October 10 to promote her newly released album Periodt. However, she received a huge backlash on October 8 after her Instagram Story promoting FUBU, one of the songs from her new album. Her post included a screenshot from the music video of the song, in which she and her crew pose in front of a poster with the hand-written slogan, “Free Palestine”.

Later that day, Nura posted her response to the criticisms in an Instagram Story: “When I watch the news and see people who are suffering, I make no distinction as to their origin, gender, sexuality or religion. Suffering is suffering. War, however, is never a solution and I am not a supporter of what is currently happening. My family fled the war. We know first-hand how traumatizing it is.” She pointed out that her music video came before the current events, but expressed her apology if anyone who has been affected felt hurt by it.

She removed the controversial post and the music video from her platforms, which was welcomed by her label Universal. The channel ProSieben announced on October 9 that Nura would not appear as a guest on the show Late Night Berlin. They didn’t provide any further information on this matter. Immediately after her posting, Nura was also disinvited from being a jury member for the new music award Polyton, which took place in November.

The Berlin-based rapper, singer and actor with the full name Nura Habib Omer, was born in Kuwait and is of Eritrean nationality. Along with her mother and three siblings, she came to Germany as a refugee when she was three. She was part of the hip-hop duo SXTN from 2014 to 2018, and has been active as a solo artist since the duo’s split. Through her music and public presence, she has been consistently vocal in advocating feminism, anti-racism and LGBTQI+ rights.