Weekly Kibbitz
Jessica Seinfeld’s Instagram Post About Kanye West’s Antisemitism
Goes Viral Among Celebrities
As images of the banner held above
Interstate 405 in Los Angeles claim-
ing “Kanye is right about the Jews”
ricocheted around the Internet this
weekend, Jessica Seinfeld decided
to take a stand.

A cookbook author and the wife
of comedian Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld
posted a simple piece of text on a
black background that reads “I sup-
port my friends and the Jewish peo-
ple” and encouraged her 580,000
Seinfeld’s simple post was rem-
iniscent of other posts that have
gone viral at other moments in the
recent past, including the black box
that became a symbol of solidarity
with the Black Lives Matter move-
ment during the summer of 2020.

Since she posted it on Oct. 23, it has
been shared countless times, includ-
ing by prominent celebrities.

While Jewish comedian Amy
Schumer was among the first to
The post’s virality has elicited both
relief and frustration among Jewish
social-media users. Some had wor-
ried aloud that non-Jews might not
rise to the moment and condemn
antisemitism with the same force
with which many of them have tack-
led racism and anti-LGBTQ hate.

“Liberation is a group project,”
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, scholar in
residence at the National Council
of Jewish Women, tweeted on Oct.

23. “Jews must show up for non-
Jews. White people must show up
for BIPOC. Abled people must show
up for disabled people. Cis people
must show up for trans people. We
all must come together for a more
whole tomorrow. Non-Jews, show
up for us?”
But some Jews rejected the viral
post, dismissing it as a social media
See Kibbitz, Page 23
ENJOY THE
WARMTH! Celebrities shared an Instagram post on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24 in solidarity with
Jews dealing with antisemitism.

Screenshots via Twitter, Instagram/Design by Jackie Hajdenberg
followers to share the post.

Seinfeld, who is Jewish, was weigh-
ing in two weeks after West, the rap-
per who now goes by Ye, launched
a spree of antisemitic comments,
including a call to “go death con 3”
on Jews. The banner was displayed
by members of the Goyim Defense
League, a white-supremacist group
whose calling card is distributing
antisemitic literature in communities
across the United States.

For many, the banner became
emblematic of how West’s com-
ments can be seen as part of a
broader pattern of antisemitism in
the United States — and for Seinfeld
and others who are active on social
media, it became the latest in a
string of high-profile moments that
demand public expressions of soli-
darity. “If you don’t know what to say, you
can just say this in your feed,” wrote
Seinfeld. share Seinfeld’s post and other
Jewish celebrities,
including Gwyneth Paltrow, have shared it,
many of the public figures amplifying
it are part of Seinfeld’s target audi-
ence: non-Jews.

Jenna Bush Hager, Meghan
McCain, Gemma Chan and Reese
Witherspoon have all shared the
post. So have various members of
the Jenner-Kardashian family, who
notably were once tied to West via
Kim Kardashian’s marriage to him
until the couple’s divorce in March.

Kim Kardashian didn’t share
Seinfeld or Schumer’s post, but wrote
a short statement in an Instagram
story, a form of post that is visible for
24 hours.

“Hate speech is never OK or excus-
able,” she wrote. “I stand together
with the Jewish community and call
on the terrible violence and hateful
rhetoric towards them to come to an
immediate end.”
Join the warmth and friendliness that is
Paul’s Run. Enjoy friends in our brand new
culinary venues. In addition you will have a
multitude of lifestyle programs. There is so
much to love about living at Paul’s Run!
SAVE 20%
FOR LIFE! *
Retirement Community
Contact Jennifer and Rebecca
to schedule your personal visit at
1-877-859-9444 PaulsRun.org/Welcome
*In your first year alone, you will save up to $8,900.

9896 Bustleton Avenue • Philadelphia, PA 19115
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 5