David Schwimmer calls out Hollywood ‘heroes’ refusing to speak out against antisemitism 

David Schwimmer called out his Hollywood peers for staying ‘silent’ on the matter (Picture: Getty)

Friends actor David Schwimmer has put Hollywood on blast who have remained silent amid the current conflict in the Middle East.

The Ross Geller star, 58, addressed the ongoing issues during the Anti-Defamation League’s Never is Now conference in New York City last week.

‘Plenty of people I respect, even some of my heroes in entertainment, music and sports, have chosen to keep a low profile and sit this one out, including some whose careers have been made by leaning into their Jewish identity, and others who have won acclaim for playing Jews onscreen,’ he said.

‘Some of them are doing a lot behind the scenes, privately and in their own way, but so many have chosen not to say anything publicly at all.

‘And if I can say something directly to them: I really wish you would.’

He continued: ‘I wish you would stand up. I wish you would speak out, because your voice would be so meaningful to your fans who love you, to your community members who need you, to folks who can use just a little solidarity right now.

The Friends icon said ‘silence is complicity’ (Picture: John Nacion/FilmMagic) David (L) is best known for playing Ross Geller on the sitcom(Picture: NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

‘No one’s asking you to solve the conflict of the Middle East. Just say that you stand with your Jewish friends, colleagues, and neighbours against hatred and what’s happening on our college campuses and in our schools and to Jewish-owned businesses is totally unacceptable.’

This comes after the sitcom star issued a plea to Elon Musk, who owns the social media platform Twitter/X, to remove rapper Kanye’s West’s account following a string of antisemitic posts.

The disturbing messages included ones in which he declared himself to be a Nazi and another in which he professed his ‘love’ for Adolf Hitler.

David took to Instagram to share a selection of Kanye’s recent comments and wrote: ‘This is so 2022. We can’t stop a deranged bigot from spewing hate filled, ignorant bile… but we CAN stop giving him a megaphone, Mr. Musk.

‘Kanye West has 32.7 million followers on your platform, X. That’s twice as many people than the number of Jews in existence. His sick hate speech results in REAL LIFE violence against Jews.(sic)’

He further expressed his disgust that there hadn’t been ‘sufficient outrage’ over Kanye’s comments and warned staying silent made people ‘complicit’ in the rapper’s dangerous rants.

The Grammy-winner targeted the Jewish community on multiple occasions (Picture: Getty)

He explained: ‘I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that he identifies as a Nazi (which implies he wants to exterminate ALL marginalized communities including his own) or the fact that there is not sufficient OUTRAGE to remove and ban him from all social media at this point. Silence is complicity. (sic)’

Kanye – who was previously banned from X from December 2022 until summer 2023 for similar disturbing messages – has sparked outrage for his posts, with many wondering if the rapper could possibly be in his right mind.

In one tweet, the disgraced rapper said: ‘I’m never apologising for my Jewish comments. I can say whatever the f**k I wanna say forever. Where’s my f*****g apology for freezing my accounts. S**k my d**k how’s that for an apology.’ 

The Madagascar actor previously took aim at West’s posts three years ago, when he stated that he was going ‘death con 3 on Jewish people’ in a shocking tweet.

‘Antisemitism is on the rise globally,’ the actor said at the time, in a message that was supported by his Friends co-star, Jennifer Aniston. ‘Jews make up only 2.4% of the population of the United States but are the victims of more than 60% of all religious hate crimes.*

‘Whether or not Kanye West is mentally ill, there’s no question he is a bigot. His hate speech calls for violence against Jews. If you interpret his words any other way and defend him, guess what? You are racist.

‘If we don’t call someone as influential as Kanye out for his divisive, ignorant and antisemitic words then we are complicit,’ he added. ‘Silence is complicity.’

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