Popular musician Dave Matthews apologized to his audience from the stage after a previous performance saw audience members shouting antisemitic slurs.

In that past performance, which took place on May 30 at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach, Matthews used his stage as a soapbox from which to opine about Gaza, prompting an enthusiastically antisemitic response from the audience.

This was not the first time Matthews used his massive platform as a performer to share his political views. He has often criticized Israel from the stage and appeared at performances carrying signs accusing Israel of genocide.

At a performance in North Carolina, Matthews apologized to the Jewish community, reading from prepared remarks on June 5 at Coastal Credit Union Music Park in Raleigh.

“I have a deep respect and love for, all of my life that I can remember, and an admiration for the culture and history of the Jewish people,” Matthews said.

No “group of people has contributed more to the advancement and the evolution of understanding of each other and the world around us and the universe,” he added, referencing Albert Einstein, George Gershwin and Hannah Arendt.

“It breaks my heart that my opinions, borne out of deep commitment to nonviolent resolution and resistance, can be twisted to serve any hateful or racist or bigoted ideas,” he said. “I am so sorry for any misunderstanding or pain I might have caused. My intention is to help bring an end to the seemingly endless violence in the world.”

Matthews added that he found out about the Oct. 7 attacks during a friend’s bar mitzvah.

“It was interrupted by the horror and the violence on the other side of the world, an ongoing horror,” he said.

“But the violence born out of that day against the Palestinian people is no less horrific and multiplies the death and the suffering over and over and over,” he added.

Rami Feinstein, a musician who runs a support group for Jewish Dave Matthews fans who are upset by his rhetoric, was having none of it.

In a post on Instagram, Feinstein wrote what Matthews’ apology should have said. He wrote that Matthews should have taken full responsibility for the harm his rhetoric caused and understood how biased his views were from the beginning, when he failed to publicly say anything about Hamas’ attack on Israelis, speaking only of Gazan suffering for four months, until under pressure he finally condemned the attack. He should have explained why the accusation of genocide is false and apologized for using that libel against the State of Israel.

Feinstein went on to say that he should have expressed his understanding of how uncomfortable he made his fans at every performance, using his stage to hector Israel.

“I will speak more thoughtfully,” Feinstein wrote Matthews should have written. “And I will also work to ensure my Jewish fans and all of my fans feel welcome at my shows again.”

“I am sorry, and I will do better,” Feinstein concluded on Matthews’ behalf.