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Actress Susan Sarandon apologized Friday night for claiming that Jews “are getting a taste of what it’s like to be Muslim” amid the war with Hamas.
Sarandon’s comments at a Nov. 17 pro-Palestine rally in New York City sparked widespread outrage, with critics saying they ignored the centuries of prejudice and anti-Semitism the Jewish community has endured.
The Oscar-winning actress, 77, was fired by her Hollywood representative, United Talent Agency, run by Jewish CEO Jeremy Zimmer. UTA represented Sarandon since 2014.
On Friday, he said his comments last month were “a terrible mistake.”
“This phrase was a terrible mistake, since it implies that until recently Jews had been oblivious to persecution, when the truth is quite the opposite,” he said.
At a protest on Nov. 17, Susan Sarandon said scared Jews in America are “getting a taste” of what it feels like to be Muslim.
Sarandon posted his apology on Instagram on Friday night.
She said the rally was “to highlight the urgent humanitarian crisis in Gaza and call for a ceasefire,” and said she had not planned to speak at the meeting but was invited to address the crowd.
“Intending to communicate my concern about a rise in hate crimes, I said that American Jews, as targets of growing anti-Semitic hatred, ‘are getting a taste of what it is like to be Muslim in this country, so often subject to violence.’ .”
Sarandon said his words ignored “centuries of oppression and genocide in Europe,” as well as recent atrocities, such as the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue, which left 11 people dead in October 2018 in Pittsburgh, the worst attack on the Jewish community in modern American history. .
Sarandon added: ‘I am deeply sorry for diminishing this reality and hurting people with this comment.
“My intention was to show solidarity in the fight against intolerance of all kinds, and I regret that I did not achieve that.”
Since the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, which killed 1,200 Israelis, and the retaliation in Gaza, which killed 15,000 Palestinians, Sarandon has attended several demonstrations in New York.
The veteran left-wing activist has been filmed joining in the chant “from the river to the sea”, a battle cry used by both pro-Palestinian activists and Hamas that many see as an anti-Semitic call for the destruction of Israel.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show star also retweeted posts on X celebrating Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who has been dogged for years with accusations of anti-Semitism.
Susan Sarandon is seen at a pro-Palestine rally in New York City last month. She attended another over the weekend, where she was seen singing “from the river to the sea,” which has been called an anti-Semitic phrase calling for the destruction of Israel.
Journalist Asra Nomani was among those who criticized Sarandon for his comments.
Sharing a photo of herself with her parents, Nomani said: ‘Hi Susan Sarandon, it’s me, my mom and my dad on the train track in Morgantown, West by God Virginia. Let me tell you what it means to be Muslim in America.
‘My father did not have to become a second-class servant to one of the many tyrants of Muslim countries who use immigrants from India, like my family, as essential slaves… my father got a job as an assistant professor of nutrition.
“First he was rejected for the position, but being a Muslim in America meant he had the right that everyone else had: his right to appeal and guess what? He won and became a full professor.
‘My mom? Being a Muslim in America meant she could live FREE with the wind in her hair, like Masih Alinejad fights so that women in the Muslim nation of Iran can enjoy.’
She went on to describe how she was able to safely and freely give birth to a baby out of wedlock in the United States, something that would have led to her death in some Muslim countries.
Asra Nomani, born in India to Muslim parents, responded to Sarandon on Twitter with a list of the freedoms she and her parents enjoy in the United States.
Reaction: There is growing fury over Sarandon’s comments
‘Where do you think I came to deliver my baby safely and without shame? West by God Virginia in the United States of America, where we enjoy the same rights as Muslim Americans, not Americans.
‘This is a “taste” of life for a Muslim family in America. Please do not minimize the experience of American Jews by sanitizing the hell it is for Muslims living in Muslim countries and vilifying America for the life (and freedoms) it offers to Muslims like my family.
‘Go and live like a Muslim woman in a Muslim country. You will return to America and kiss the earth beneath your feet,” she said.
Others compared her comments to those of Jane Fonda during the Vietnam War. Fonda earned the nickname ‘Hanoi Jane’ for her continued condemnation of the US military effort in Vietnam.
He traveled to the region and posed on top of an anti-aircraft gun, something he has since apologized for.
Jane Fonda sitting on an anti-aircraft gun in Vietnam in 1972. She has since apologized for offending the families of American veterans with the photo and her comments about the war.
‘Good good good. The Vietnam War had Hanoi Jane. It seems that Hamas will have Gaza Susan. She should go visit them,’ said one reviewer.
‘Someone inform actress Susan Sarandon that she can open a nice bottle of wine and celebrate by her private pool: another death of the Jewish grandfather.
‘Hamas, which it proudly supports, has just announced that one of the hundreds of innocent Israelis it kidnapped, 86-year-old Aryeh Zalmanovich, was killed in captivity.
‘Do you like this, Susan? Does this fill your heart with joy?’ said another.
There has been a sharp rise in both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the United States since the October 7 attack and the subsequent conflict.
The vast majority of public protests in major cities such as New York have been pro-Palestinian, with some participants holding anti-Semitic signs calling on people to “cleanse the world of Jews.”