Anti-Israel activists are calling for a boycott of the upcoming season of Stranger Things after Jewish cast member Noah Schnapp was filmed with people who were holding up stickers reading “Zionism Is Sexy” and “Hamas Is Isis.”
The popular Netflix show announced on Monday, Jan. 8 that production for season five had officially begun. The show shared a photo of the cast on Instagram, including Noah Schnapp, who plays Will Beyers.
However, fans are calling for a boycott of the series after a video of the 19-year-old actor previously surfaced on social media. In the video, which was posted by PopCrave on Nov. 13 and proliferated on social media, Schnapp, who plays Will Beyers, is seen smiling, laughing, and recording those around him who held up stickers reading “Zionism Is Sexy” and “Hamas Is Isis.”
“They have taken NO action against him. I’m appalled. Completely and utterly appalled,” one X user said. “I will not be watching season 5 and I urge everyone else to do the same.”
The video of Schnapp drew criticism from viewers with one person commenting, “This shows that he really doesn’t care about anyone’s lives.”
Actor said he was "heartbroken" over murder of civilians by Hamas
Days before the video surfaced, the 19-year-old actor shared a message to his Instagram saying he was “heartbroken” over the murders of innocent civilians by Hamas.
“I hope we can agree that Hamas are a recognized terrorist organization,” Schnapp wrote. “They don’t represent the Palestinian people when they value murdering Israelis more than protecting their own. You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism.”
Schnapp visited Israel last year, with photographs of him at the Kotel and other locations making the rounds on social media.
“In love with this place,” he wrote in one Tel Aviv photo he posted in his stories, in which he’s overlooking the Mediterranean Sea at dusk on a city balcony.
Schnapp isn’t the only member of the “Stranger Things” team to be accused of being a “lurid Zionist,” according to another X user. Actors Brett Gelman, who visited Israel and appeared on Eretz Nehederet last month, and Cara Buono, who play Murray Bauman and Karen Wheeler, respectively, have also been criticized.
Producer Shawn Levy and the Duffer Brothers, who created the show, have also been under fire by fans.
“We will be boycotting the writers, Noah Schnapp and Brett Gelman being Zionists,” another X user said. “I hope this season flops so hard they never get a job again.” (masslive.com/TNS)
Jerusalem Post and JTA contributed to this report.