7 celebs who condemned Harvard, MIT and UPenn presidents' testimony on tackling antisemitism on campuses
Hollywood celebs condemn Harvard, MIT and UPenn presidents' testimony on antisemitism
Several Hollywood celebrities have condemned the presidents of Harvard and MIT, Claudine Gay and Sally Kornbluth, and former University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill, for their comments about rising antisemitism on campuses amid the Israel-Hamas war. The fierce backlash began after their December 5 testimony at a House hearing for failing to explicitly state whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates their respective school's code of conduct regarding bullying or harassment. Amid mounting calls for her resignation, only Magill voluntarily stepped down from her post. Let us take a look at the seven celebrities who have spoken out against the college presidents' testimony.
David Schwimmer
'Friends' star David Schwimmer, along with a clip of the House hearing, posted his outrage on the university presidents, labeling them "morally bankrupt" on his Instagram account. "These morally bankrupt Presidents of @Harvard, uofpenn and @mit testify before congress," he wrote. "Incapable of answering even the most direct "yes" or "no" questions, watch them duck and smirk at the unbridled antisemitism and calls for genocide on their campuses," read his December 8 IG post. "Silence is complicity," Schwimmer concluded.
Debra Messing
Actress Debra Messing's IG post had a video of MSNBC's Al Sharpton denouncing the testimony on 'Morning Joe.' Agreeing with Sharpton's statements she wrote, "Thank you @real_sharpton for your moral clarity and outrage." She condemned the testimony, saying, "This isn't hard. This isn't difficult."
Michael Rapaport
On his Instagram post, actor and comedian Michael Rapaport said, "You must think we're dumb. You must think Jewish people are dumb up there in front of Congress. I thought you had to be smart to be at Harvard, MIT or Penn." Declaring that Jewish people are not dumb, he continued the video with some profane language. "So what you're saying is that maybe some people should go on your campuses in KKK outfits and sing Christmas carols. Is that acceptable? Resign, you m*********ers, you miserable m*********ers. We ain't f***in' stupid. We ain't going anywhere, and to the kids on those campuses, stand tall. The Jewish kids — MIT, Penn, Harvard, all the campuses — stand f***ng tall, stand proud, and Happy Hanukkah," Rapaport said.
Patricia Heaton
'Everybody Loves Raymond' actress Patricia Heaton slammed the three on her X account on December 6. "So the presidents of @Harvard, @MIT and @Penn all got together and decided to use the word "context" to defend allowing their students to call for the genocide of Jews. I would like to hear them explain which context is a good context for killing Jews, and which context is bad. Maybe add "rape" to that. Is there an acceptable context to talk about raping Jews?" she wrote.
Charisma Carpenter
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' alum Charisma Carpenter expressed her outrage and called out the university presidents in her Instagram post. She shared an image of of a Holocaust survivor's hand tattooed with a number from the concentration camps along with a photoshopped tattoo below it that read, "It depends on the context." She captioned the post, "Never Again Is Now."
Jon Lovitz
Actor and comedian Jon Lovitz said the university heads testimonies were "shocking" in his interview on 'Piers Morgan Uncensored.' "If that isn't bullying, what is?" Lovitz asked. "Imagine if there was a group that was in the KKK and then they said that about African-Americans. It would be horrendous."
Bill Maher
Bill Maher blasted the testimony on the December 8 episode of his HBO show 'Real Time with Bill Maher.' As he interviewed pro-free speech group FIRE CEO Greg Lukianoff, Maher condemned Harvard University and UPenn, saying, "So these are two of the colleges who are now on Team Hamas." The HBO host also HBO equated college students to "useful idiots." "Bigger scandal here is that these are the biggest, most esteemed colleges in the country and they've raised a bunch of f***ing idiots," he told Lukianoff.
