British actress Catherine Zeta-Jones has warned that antisemitic remarks made by celebrities such as Kanye West are “extremely dangerous.”
Her remarks came after a string of antisemitic comments made by the rapper now known as Ye.
The Swansea-born actress told The Telegraph newspaper that Mr West’s celebrity influence is “extremely dangerous.”
Ms Zeta-Jones’ husband of 22 years, Michael Douglas, identifies as a Reform Jew. The pair have raised their two children, Dylan and Carys, within Judaism.
Mr Douglas is the son of fellow actor Kirk Douglas (real name Issur Danielovitch), who was born to Jewish parents that immigrated to New York from the former Russian Empire.
“I’m all for freedom of speech, especially now, when democracy is as vulnerable as it ever has been, but social media has turned the X-ray light on every deep, dark anger lurking," the actress explained.
Likely referring to the recent presidency of Donald Trump, she stated, “We had someone in power [in the US] who ranted so much that people thought, ‘Well, if he can do it, so can I.’ So it’s a very scary time.”
In October Mr West tweeted what many considered to be an apparent death threat to Jews: “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on Jewish people.
“The funny thing is I actually can’t be antisemitic because black people are actually Jews also. You guys have toyed with me and tried to blackball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” he went on.
Last week, Mr West attended a dinner at the Florida home of former President Trump alongside far-right activist Nick Fuentes.
The 24-year-old blogger has previously denied the Holocaust and had demanded that Jews leave the US.
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