Celebrities have weighed in on the Israel-Hamas war. Few have been as prolific or controversial as Amy Schumer.
On October 7, Amy Schumer made her first Instagram post about the Israel-Hamas conflict: she re-shared a video of Hamas militants kidnapping hostages after killing hundreds at a music festival in Israel.
Nearly a month later, her near-daily updates have made the comedian one of the most vocal and well-known Americans using social media to speak out about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Even people who don’t follow the comedian – who has 13.1 million Instagram followers – have seen the reposts, the screenshots, the celebrity solidarity comments and the criticism across platforms online.
Many celebrities who have posted about the conflict have faced criticism online from people who either criticized them for not saying enough or for sharing what they saw as the “wrong” perspective. Selena Gomez, the most followed woman on Instagram, even recently said she was taking a break from the platform after her statements sparked backlash.
This isn’t the first time celebrities have spoken out openly about current events – and received backlash for what they said. But Schumer — who as of Friday had posted about the conflict more than 40 times on her Instagram and about five times on X (including three reposts) — has shown little sign of backing down.
The comedian, who is Jewish, has linked her identity to many of her posts, which have become, in some ways, a daily sign of the ongoing tensions on social media and across the United States, which continue to grow almost a month after the conflict began have.
Read more
According to Israeli authorities, about 1,400 people in Israel were killed and 241 are being held hostage in the October 7 Hamas attack. More than 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, the Gaza Strip Health Ministry reported on Friday.
Schumer’s posts haven’t had a major impact on the size of her fan base — she lost 45,000 Instagram followers this month, which is less than 1% of her total following, according to social media analytics firm Social Blade.
In comments, some — including celebrities Kathy Griffin and Sacha Baron Cohen — have offered the comedian their support and thanked her for making the voices of the Jewish people heard. Other social media users described the content of some posts as Islamophobic or accused Schumer of spreading hate or misinformation.
This week, Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., addressed Schumer directly in her own post, discussing what she thought her father’s stance on the war would be. The response came after Schumer shared a clip of Martin Luther King Jr. saying, “Israel must exist and has a right to exist and is one of the great outposts of democracy in the world.” In another clip, he called anti-Semitism as “wrong” and said, “He is unjust and evil.” King said that while she and her father opposed anti-Semitism, she was sure her father would “demand that Israel’s bombing of Palestinians stop” and ” release the hostages.”
Wajahat Ali, a columnist for The Daily Beast, wrote in his latest opinion piece that Schumer “has abused her influence to put down and victimize.”
The viral reaction was enough for some crisis communications experts to suggest that Schumer’s reputation could suffer and she could end up being used as an example to celebrities of what not to do in the future.
“If I had a client who posted things that provoked a similar reaction to what Amy Schumer did, no matter how good their intentions were – perhaps she had the truest intentions – I would recommend that they stop immediately,” said Ryan McCormick, Co-founder and media specialist of the PR firm Goldman McCormick PR. McCormick does not represent Schumer or work with him.
Representatives for Schumer did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
In her latest post on Instagram on Wednesday, Schumer addressed the backlash, saying she wants the hostages held by Hamas “BACK” as well as “the safety and freedom of Palestinians and Israelis from Hamas.” She said she also wanted peace.
“You will never know me wishing ill upon anyone,” she wrote. “To say that I’m Islamophobic or that I like genocide is crazy.”
Read more
But some online said their views on Schumer had already changed – pointing to two of her posts that she deleted after critics called them Islamophobic.
A graphic she reposted said Ivy League universities were the “biggest recipients of $8.5 billion” in “Arab funding.” The last paragraph of the graphic claims that students at American universities are “currently showing overwhelming support for Hamas” while condemning Israel. After it was deleted, screenshots of the post continued to circulate on X. Critics said the infographic had nothing to do with Israel or Gaza.
She also deleted an Instagram post that showed a political cartoon of illustrated pro-Palestinian protesters holding inflammatory signs. One of the most striking signs in the picture read: “Gaza residents only rape Jewish girls in self-defense.” The post sparked outrage online from people who said the focus on Gazans rather than Hamas caused the deaths of Gazans. justify civilians.
She appeared to acknowledge some of the criticism, writing in the caption of another Instagram post: “Can we agree on this? #nohostageleftbehind Hamas terrorists are the ones I’m talking about.” Not Gazans. I’m sorry I posted something that hurt her. I will be more careful.”
Actress Asia Jackson said Schumer confronted her in direct messages after criticizing the comedian. She shared screenshots of the alleged interaction, which also quickly went viral. NBC News could not confirm the authenticity of the messages. A representative for Jackson declined further comment, saying Jackson’s contributions were the extent of her statements.
Online, some who responded to Jackson seemed to share her belief that many people are afraid to post for fear of losing their jobs, but that Schumer appears to be able to post her feelings with impunity.
There has already been a domino effect in some industries, including Hollywood – after some people expressed their pro-Palestinian views online, they faced backlash and, in some cases, professional repercussions.
For example, Maha Dakhil, an agent at Creative Artists Agency, resigned from her executive duties as co-head of the film division, Variety reported, after she showed her support for Palestine on social media and it sparked a viral backlash.
Molly McPherson, a public relations and crisis communications expert, said she believes Schumer’s posts and the broad response to them will tarnish Schumer’s reputation “for some time.”
“This experience could now become a litmus test for how celebrities will choose to either express their views on international affairs, these big, complex issues, or choose to remain silent,” McPherson said. “What could happen is that this could be the Amy Schumer effect.”
In a Halloween post, Schumer said she was “sad to have lost so many friends over the last few weeks” but that she was a “proud Jewish woman” with a great head and good spirits.
Comments are closed.