Hollywood stars 'afraid of the backlash' if they side with Israel over Palestinians, Jewish critic says
Lieba Nesis of The Jewish Voice spoke with FOX News Digital about how many in Hollywood are "afraid" to fully support Israel in its war against Hamas.
Many of the biggest stars in Hollywood have reacted to the horrific attacks against Israel by Hamas, but one critic is calling out how some of them are rushing to equate the Jewish state's suffering with the Palestinians.
Lieba Nesis, entertainment writer for The Jewish Voice, stressed how celebrities "have the most influence" in American society, saying they're the "gatekeepers to the minds of our adolescents and even to adults."
She's sounding the alarm that celebrities giving anything short of full-throated support for Israel is problematic and attempting to draw moral equivalence with Palestinians is meant to save their careers.
"They're afraid of being canceled," Nesis told Fox News Digital. "Hollywood people live in a bubble. They're in their own little world… They never go out there and see real people. So they just fraternize with each other and they all hold the same opinions. If you diverge from that, you threaten your career, you threaten being boycotted."
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Nesis pointed to Kylie Jenner's attempt at showing solidarity with Israel to her 400 million followers by sharing a post that read, "Now and always, we stand with the people of Israel!" She later deleted the post following intense backlash.
"Frozen" actor Josh Gad, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, faced similar blowback. Nesis said Gad "felt the need to correct himself" for his initial reaction expressing sympathy for Israel, writing on social media he was "personally attacked, shamed, unfollowed and threatened" and reiterated his long-standing criticism of the Israeli government's "occupation and their attacks on innocent Gazans."
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She also cited a statement from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who condemned Hamas but then wrote that "the growing loss of innocent Israeli and Palestinian life is heart-wrenching."
"They have to equate the two. They can't come out just for Israel because they're so afraid of the backlash," Nesis said. "They're afraid of being canceled, afraid of losing work, afraid of losing the approval of your friends and also afraid of being bullied by the public, by other people sympathetic to Palestine who will consistently bully you and… try to ruin your life so that you won't speak out."
"There's no such thing as neutrality in this situation," Nesis insisted.
Representatives for Jenner, Gad and Johnson did not immediately respond to FOX News' requests for comment.
But not every celebrity buckled to the pressure of being neutral. Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather expressed his unabashed support for Israel, writing on Instagram, "I stand with Israel against the Hamas terrorists. Hamas do not represent the people of Palestine but are a terrorist group that are attacking innocent lives! I stand for all humans and wish for the safe return of all Americans and Israelis and any human that were kidnapped as hostages during these horrific war crimes. This is not a time for politics. This is a time for safety first and foremost. God Bless America. God Bless Israel. God Bless Human Kind!" He also sent a private jet full of supplies to Israel's military.
"He had to implore other celebrities and athletes to speak out for Israel," Nesis said about Mayweather. "I mean, that's what he's doing because he himself sees the silence."
Nesis also commended NBA all-star LeBron James, comedians Amy Schumer and Jerry Seinfeld, as well as model and outspoken Palestinian advocate Gigi Hadid, for denouncing the violence against Jews.
"You can't equivocate on this. You can't say 'Hamas is wrong, but they're innocent Palestinians and they're innocent Jews. And we feel bad for all of them.' You have to deal with this discrete issue. And this discrete issue was Hamas committed an atrocious terrorist attack that was worse than ISIS," Nesis said. "And for celebrities not to come out and denounce this in the strongest terms possible is a big slap in the face to the Jewish people. It feels like the Holocaust all over again, where everyone was silent. Once you become complacent… they take further action."
Over 1,000 members of the entertainment industry signed an open letter expressing solidarity with Israel. Among the signatories in addition to Schumer and Seinfeld include Gal Gadot, Jamie Lee Curtis, Helen Mirren, Mark Hamill, Chris Pine, Mayim Bialik, Billy Porter, Debra Messing and Michael Douglas.
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