Amy Schumer Discusses Backlash for Supporting Israel, Receiving ‘Hatred’ for Being Jewish

Amy Schumer attends the 2023 Bring Change to Mind Gala at City Winery, New York, NY, Oct. 9, 2023. Photo Anthony Behar/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Jewish actress Amy Schumer discussed in a new interview the negative attention she’s received for speaking in support of the Jewish community and commenting on the Israel-Hamas war, as well as how discussions about the ongoing conflict are usually one-sided.

“The focus is so razor-sharp on Jewish people but not on Hamas. It’s very strange,” the Trainwreck star, 42, told Variety magazine, while talking about the war that began following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel.

“It’s gotten to this place where you can’t speak up for other Jews without people feeling like it’s a slight to the conditions in Gaza,” added the actress, who was bullied as a teenager for being Jewish. She also recommended that people read Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby to better understand the Jewish state or anything written by Jews because “Jewish people wrote everything down.”

Schumer was in New York in March filming her new movie Kinda Pregnant when a stranger shouted at her from the sidewalk: “F—k you, Amy Schumer! You’re a Zionist! You love genocide!” Meanwhile, during her interview with Variety in Brooklyn, a woman approached the actress’s table and told her: “Thank you for everything you’re doing for Israel. I follow you on social media. I used to live in Israel and … thank you. We support you.” Afterward, Schumer told the reporter from Variety, “That moment you just saw? Maybe 10 times a day that happens to me.”

The Life & Beth star, writer, director, and stand-up comedian has been vocal in her support for Israel since the Oct. 7 attacks — and has been criticized for doing so.

In November, she shared on X/Twitter a video of Martin Luther King Jr. denouncing antisemitism and stating that Israel has the right to exist. Bernice King, the activist’s daughter, responded to Schumer’s post by saying that although she and her father were against antisemitism, she was certain the civil rights leader “would call for Israel’s bombing of Palestinians to cease, for hostages to be released, and for us to work for true peace, which includes justice.”

Schumer clarified her stance on the Israel-Hamas war during her interview with Variety, saying that she doesn’t support the Israeli government.

“I don’t agree with anything that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is doing, and neither do the Israelis I know. Of course what’s going on in Gaza is sickening, horrifying, and unthinkable,” she said. “And, I don’t think it’s OK to hate anyone because they were born Jewish.”

Schumer’s friend and fellow actress Jennifer Lawrence also told Variety that she thinks Schumer is better than most at handling scrutiny, regardless of what it’s about. “Amy’s choice to use her voice to speak for justice puts her under immense fire,” Lawrence said. “I wouldn’t say she navigates it so much as she throws her middle fingers up and walks away from negative comments like a gas station fire in a Michael Bay movie.”

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