Dawn French apologises after being accused of underplaying October 7 attacks on Israel
'It appeared one-sided and that is wrong.'
British comedian and actress Dawn French has issued a public apology after a social media video she posted about the conflict in Gaza and Israel drew widespread criticism.
The 67-year-old Vicar of Dibley star shared the video on X (formerly Twitter), using a baby-like voice to deliver a satirical monologue critiquing what she described as the justifications used by those supporting Israel’s continued military campaign in Gaza.
‘Complicated, no, but nuanced. But [the] bottom line is no,’ she says in the video, before launching into a series of exaggerated, childlike impressions mimicking the arguments of some supporters of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
‘Yeah, but you know they did a bad thing to us… and we want that land… and we have history… Those people aren’t really even people, are they?’ Each segment is followed by French returning to her natural voice to declare: ‘No.’
The video, which has since been deleted, quickly amassed over 4.7million views and sparked a fierce backlash among some.
Critics accused French of trivialising the October 7 Hamas attacks, in which over 1,200 Israelis were killed and an estimated 250 taken hostage. Some viewers said her tone appeared to mock victims rather than leaders.
In response to the outcry, French posted a lengthy apology on Instagram on Saturday, acknowledging that her attempt at satire had fallen short of the mark.
‘I clumsily used a mocking tone,’ she wrote. ‘My intention was NEVER to mock, or dismiss, or diminish the horror of what happened on 7 October 2023 and what continues to unfold from that brutal, unthinkable, unforgivable savage [attack].’
French said her real aim had been to ‘mock and point the finger of shame at the behaviour of the cruel leaders on ALL sides of this attricious [sic] war,’ but admitted that her message had come across as one-sided.
‘I’m particularly sorry that my disgust at Hamas didn’t figure. It appeared one-sided and that is wrong,’ she said.
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