No Oscar for Susan Sarandon’s Apology

Hollywood celebrities have a horrible reputation for speaking without thinking. Actors and actresses who are encased in self-righteous bubbles and locked safely behind gates in secure communities drop opinions about things they have no knowledge of. It isn’t that they have opinions that’s annoying. It’s the smugness that they deliver them with and the anticipation they have that they will be lauded as brilliant.

Susan Sarandon is a typical example of this. She threw out a comment regarding the Israel/Hamas conflict that she was sure would be met with liberal approval. However, what transpired was something Hollywood types are not used to. 

Sarandon is no stranger to controversy. In 2003, she protested the invasion of Iraq, as did most of Hollywood. She also criticized Donald Trump during his entire time in office, including getting arrested in 2018 during a women’s march against the Trump administration’s policies on immigration. Still, most of tinsel town disliked everything that Trump did. Earlier this year she was arrested again at a protest calling for fair wages for restaurant workers at the New York State Capitol.

 This time Sarandon’s stupidity brought repercussions. Last month, while attending a pro-Palestinian rally, Sarandon unloaded this moronic statement: “There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country.”

First, the islamophobia that she spoke of is a media-generated hoax. As with systemic racism, liberals love to use it as a talking point but can’t sight any real examples that prove it exists. Second, I’m sure that Sarandon has heard of the Holocaust, but even if you set that horrific event aside, antisemitism has been rising steadily. In April, a joint report was released by Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League. The report demonstrated that over the past few years antisemitism has drastically increased, especially in the U.S.

Sarandon’s comment drew a lot of criticism, but what got her attention was when she was dropped by United Talent Agency (UTA). After that embarrassment, her opinion quickly changed.

In an Instagram post, Sarandon said this:  

Recently, I attended a rally alongside a diverse group of activists seeking to highlight the urgent humanitarian crisis in Gaza and call for a ceasefire. I had not planned to speak but was invited to take the stage and say a few words.”

Intending to communicate my concern for an increase in hate crimes, I said that Jewish Americans, as the targets of rising antisemitic hate, “are getting a taste of what it is like to be Muslim in this country”, so often subjected to violence.

This phrasing was a terrible mistake, as it implies that until recently Jews have been strangers to persecution, when the opposite is true. As we all know, from centuries of oppression and genocide in Europe to the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, PA, Jews have long been familiar with discrimination and religious violence which continues to this day.

I deeply regret diminishing this reality and hurting people with this comment. It was my intent to show solidarity to the struggle against bigotry of all kinds, and I am sorry I failed to do so.

I will continue my commitment to peace, truth, justice, and compassion for all people. I hope we can meet with love and willingness to engage in dialogue, especially with those with whom we disagree.

Nice try. The rally you attended did not consist of a diverse group of activists. It was pro-Palestinian, which means it was anti-Israel. When you spoke you said what you felt and believed. That was until your words cost you--then your shallow nature was exposed. The speed of your backtracking after getting dropped was impressive, but not effective. 

As an actress, your job is to play roles of people who are not you. At the rally your façade cracked, and you spoke as yourself. Then you quickly had to jump back into character, playing a sorrowful and misunderstood martyr.

Sorry, but it doesn’t work. However, with your comment you did figuratively recreate one of your most memorable scenes: driving off the cliff in "Thelma and Louise."