Jamie Foxx apologized for an Instagram post that was accused of being anti-Semitic. 

Foxx started off by saying, “I want to apologize to the Jewish community and everyone who was offended by my post. I now know my choice of words have caused offense and I’m sorry. That was never my intent.”

The actor continued to explain his original comment, “To clarify, I was betrayed by a fake friend and that’s what I meant with ‘they’ not anything more. I only have love in my heart for everyone. I love and support the Jewish community.”

He ended his statement by asserting, “My deepest apologies to anyone who was offended. ♥️♥️♥️ Nothing but love always.” 

The post included a photo of a black square with the caption, “They killed this dude named Jesus… what do you think they’ll do to you? #fakefriends #fakelove” Foxx shared the comments on Friday and later took it down after receiving backlash. 

Many criticized the post as anti-Semitic due to Foxx’s use of “they.” Some fans thought that he was supporting the idea that Jewish people are responsible for Jesus’s death. 

Others came to Foxx’s defense stating that they believed he was describing that he felt betrayed by some of his followers and friends. In addition to this, this phrase is commonly used by black people as it is an Afican-American colloquialism used to express a betrayal one may experience from a person who is supposedly your biggest supporter. The phrase originally comes from Judas who betrayed Jesus, leading to Jesus’s death. 

Jennifer Aniston shared her opinion by posting a comment about denouncing anti-Seminitism on her Instagram Stories after she reportedly “liked” Foxx’s post. Aniston reposted Foxx’s comments and a headline reading “Actor Jamie Foxx posts horrifically antisemitic message to his 16.7 million followers.” In her caption, she wrote, “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. And I truly don’t tolerate HATE of any kind. Period.” 

The American Jewish Committee also spoke out about the incident on X stating, “The deicide charge, falsely implicating Jews in Jesus’ death, has fueled antisemitic hatred for centuries. Jamie Foxx did the right thing by apologizing for this statement. It is important for everyone, including Foxx’s millions of followers, to know why his post was harmful.” 

Foxx suffered an undisclosed medical emergency earlier this year and has recently returned to social media with updates about his health.

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Article by Nina Hauswirth

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