American actor Jonathan Lipnicki made his name as a child star in an array of blockbuster films.
Best known for stealing hearts in his roles in children’s films Stuart Little and Doctor Dolittle, he has recently spoken about his role in safeguarding Los Angeles' Jewish community following a spike in antisemitism.
Aged 31, Lipnicki still maintains his flair for show business, having appeared in short films and several reality TV series including Celebs Go Dating.
However, he recently took to the social media site Instagram to share his long-running interest in martial arts.
The actor, whose father owns mixed martial arts promotion firm Fight Sports Entertainment, began pursuing martial arts in childhood.
In 2020 he achieved a black belt in Jiu-jitsu after 14 years of training, and back in 2012, Lipnicki said his father’s work had played a role in his interest.
"Because of that, I’ve given my mom a lot of the fighters to fight in a show,” he explained, adding: ”I’m actually training one of my friends right now — he’s fighting a jiu-jitsu guy. So I’m his sparring guy. If it’s someone way better, I won’t be a good sparring partner.”
The former child star, whose family is Jewish, also spoke about using his MMA training to help the Los Angeles orthodox community safely travel to worship.
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Across 2021 antisemitic attacks hit an all-time recorded high in the US. 2,717 incidents were reported, an uptick of 34 per cent since 2020.
The New York-based Anti-Defamation League said incidents significantly increased during last May's war between Gaza and Israel.
That same month a group displaying Palestinian flags shouted, “F— you” and “You guys should be ashamed of yourselves” outside a West LA sushi restaurant. The incident descended into violence as the individuals exited vehicles, asking who at the restaurant was Jewish. When two restaurant-goers answered that they were Jewish, the attackers attempted to kick and punch them.
Following this attack, Lipnicki and his friend Remy Franklin established groups to ensure community members could safely travel to worship.
He told the entertainment news site TMZ last summer that: “There have been a lot of anti-Semitic hate crimes and violence towards Jews.”
“He [Franklin] started this group where we decided to make sure people got home and to the synagogue safely.
"A lot of us are martial artists or own martial arts gyms and not all of us are Jewish. It’s just people wanting to help other people. Everyone should have the right to worship without being discriminated against.”
“Bullies of any sort or people who promote hatred don’t like when there’s a presence there and I think having a presence is a huge deterrent,” he continued.
