Jennifer Aniston is embroiled in an antisemitism row after she supported an Instagram post by Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx that alluded to centuries-old anti-Jewish tropes.
The former Friends actress ‘liked’ Mr Foxx’s statement to his 16.7 million followers which said: “They killed this dude name [sic] Jesus… what do you think they’ll do to you???!”
The post was followed by the hashtags #fakefriends and #fakelove.
The US star’s message appeared to echo the antisemitic belief that the Jewish people were collectively responsible for the killing of Christ – a slur that has led to violence and pogroms against Jews for centuries.
Ms Aniston, 54, who has almost 43 million followers on Instagram, later insisted she mistakenly clicked ‘like’, adding: “This really makes me sick… I did not ‘like’ this post on purpose or by accident. And more importantly, I want to be clear to my friends and anyone hurt by this showing up in their feeds. I do NOT support any form of antisemitism. I truly don’t tolerate HATE of any kind. Period.”
Foxx, 55, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the movie Ray in 2005, later deleted the comment, which he had posted on the home page of his Instagram account and as a temporary Instagram ‘story’ – a video or image that disappears after 24 hours.
Danny Stone MBE, chief executive of British charity the Antisemitism Policy Trust, said: “Anti-Jewish racism punches down and up. One of the ways it punches up is by depicting Jews as supernaturally powerful.
“The idea of Jews being powerful enough to kill Jesus has been used to fuel conspiracist fantasies and religiously motivated murder for hundreds of years. I’d be eager to talk to Foxx and find out what he means.”
Foxx, who was recently treated in hospital for a mystery emergency issue, has spoken of his strong commitment to the Christian faith and his involvement in the baptist church.
Last night, he apologised “to the Jewish community and everyone who was offended my post”, claiming it had been misinterpreted.