Internet personality and children's educator Rachel Accurso, known online as Ms. Rachel, appeared to entertain an antisemitic comment on an Instagram post of hers explaining why she liked an antisemitic comment on her account on Thursday.
The original comment was left on one of her posts and read "free America from the Jews." It has since been deleted, and Accurso said she had intended to delete it but “accidentally hit like and hide.”
On her apology post, an account named 'thepalestinenewsnetwerk' wrote, "Spoiler alert: They left the comment themselves."
"Ooooooooooohhhhh," Accurso responded.
The comment has also been deleted.
Ms. Rachel: A lot of my friends are Jewish
“I've accidentally liked comments before. It happens. Like, I'm a human who makes mistakes. I would never agree with an antisemitic thing like the comment,” she said in her apology video.
She noted her personal connections to the Jewish community, stating, “We have Jewish family. A lot of my friends are Jewish. I delete antisemitic comments.”
Accurso said she had proof of deleting the comment, explaining, “I have proof because yesterday somebody messaged me. There was a comment that said that. So I said, yes, I saw that, and I deleted it because that's what I thought happened."
She addressed public reaction, saying, “And then I said, I hate antisemitism. And so the internet, I guess, has picked it up, believing that that's what happened. I feel like we can't be human anymore online. Like we can't. And I'm so sorry for the confusion it caused. I'm so sorry if anyone thought that I would ever agree with something horrible and anti-semitic like that.”
“I want to say that it is okay to be human and it's okay to make mistakes. And I'm old, so I am not as good with touching things online, I guess,” The influencer said. “I have liked things by accident before; it's happened.”
Accurso, known for discussing ongoing conditions in Gaza on her children’s show and advocating on social media, said, “My advocacy is wonderful and beautiful, and I'm so proud of it. And there's nothing wrong with it. And it shouldn't be controversial to say how kids deserve to be treated. Like everyone who knows me knows that I would never like that. And the message shows that I said I deleted that. That's what I thought happened.”
Accurso described realizing the misunderstanding, stating, “That was yesterday. My husband said…look what I found that people are posting. And I was like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. I thought I deleted that.”
Danya Saperstein and Shir Perets contributed to this report.