Jamie Foxx Apologizes For Antisemitic Instagram Post - Forbes

Topline

Actor Jamie Foxx—who is recovering from an undisclosed medical issue—apologized Saturday for an Instagram post on Friday that appeared to be antisemitic, suggesting he was “betrayed” and never intended to spread antisemitic rhetoric.

Key Facts

Foxx wrote on Instagram Saturday that he wanted to “apologize to the Jewish community,” after deleting a post that read: “They killed this dude name Jesus … They’ll do to you???!”

Fox said he now knows his “choice of words have caused offense” and suggested he was “betrayed by a fake friend,” who is the “they” he was referring to.

The post appeared to share an antisemitic belief of “Jewish deicide,” or the claim that Jews “bear eternal responsibility for the death of Jesus Christ,” which was denounced and refuted by the Catholic Church in 1965, according to the American Jewish Committee.

Actress Jennifer Aniston apologized earlier on Saturday for liking the post, indicating she never liked the post “on purpose or by accident,” adding: “I do NOT support any form of antisemitism.”

Crucial Quote

“I only have love in my heart for everyone,” Foxx wrote. “I love and support the Jewish community.”

Key Background

Incidents of antisemitic harassment have increased in recent years, according to the Anti-Defamation League. More than 3,600 incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism and assault were recorded by the organization in 2022, the largest total since it began tracking incidents in 1979. Foxx has largely been out of the public eye since being hospitalized with a “medical condition” in April. In a since-deleted Instagram post the following day, Corinne Foxx indicated her father was “already on the way to recovery.” He broke his silence nearly a month later, and was later seen at a physical rehabilitation facility in Chicago. Foxx reportedly missed the premiere of his latest film, They Cloned Tyrone, in June. He was seen publicly for the first time last month aboard a boat on the Chicago River.

Tangent

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, attended a Pennsylvania-based summer camp this week to campaign against antisemitic rhetoric. Emhoff noted at Cedar Lake Camp—a regional Jewish camp—that antisemitism was not an issue for him while growing up, according to Bloomberg, though it recently became more of a problem. “One of the reasons I’m doing this work is for you and for young people to feel like I felt—happy, joyful in how to be Jewish,” Emhoff said.