Another celebrity makes headlines and proves once again that Hollywood and society have deeply internalized age-old antisemitic tropes.
In a text-written Instagram post published over the weekend, Oscar-winning actor Jaime Foxx wrote: They killed this dude named Jesus… What do you think they’ll do to you???! #fakefriends #fakelove”
After coming under fire, Jaime Foxx deleted the post and published an apology, stating, “I want to apologize to the Jewish community and everyone who was offended by my post. I now know my choice of words have caused offense and I’m sorry. That was never my intent.” He then continued: “To clarify, I was betrayed by a fake friend and that’s what I meant with ‘they’ not anything more. I only have love in my heart for everyone. I love and support the Jewish community. My deepest apologies to anyone who was offended.”
Foxx’s claim that his initial message was directed at a single person doesn’t add up. Even if Foxx had a grievance with a Jewish person, his post reflected his belief about an entire people. What is worse is that other celebrities with large platforms shared Foxx’s post, and over 130,000 people liked it, showing just how pervasive this trope is in mainstream society.
The myth that Jews were collectively responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, also known as “deicide,” has persisted for centuries. For thousands of years, the deicide charge has been used to justify unfathomable persecution and atrocities against Jewish communities. Although it has been dispelled by historians and Christian leaders (including the Catholic church), it is still used today to perpetuate harmful stereotypes about Jews.
Why do people think that Jews killed Jesus?
The origin of “Jews killed Jesus” is found in the Gospel of Matthew (27:25) within the New Testament. This passage references Jewish religious leaders who were involved in delivering Jesus to the Roman authorities, leading to his eventual execution.
To properly understand the events surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion, it is crucial to consider the political and social context of the time. In the first century CE, Judea was under Roman rule, with the Roman Empire exercising control over Jewish territories. Although a small group of Jewish priests and other groups allegedly collaborated with the Romans, Jews had no real power to inflict punishment. The Roman authorities, not the Jewish people as a whole, held ultimate power and carried out capital punishment.
The decision to crucify Jesus ultimately rested with the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Although the Gospels suggest that Pilate was reluctant to condemn Jesus, he nevertheless ordered the crucifixion and acquiesced to demands from religious authorities.
The Gospels overemphasized the Jewish role in Jesus’s crucifixion, and Jews are depicted as a bloodthirsty lynch mob that collaborated with Pilate. Crucifixion was a popular Roman method of execution used primarily for those considered enemies of the state or serious criminals. Roman rulers used crucifixion to kill thousands of Jews, including two others on the same day Jesus was crucified.
Yet the church pushed the idea that Jews murdered Christ, which fueled centuries of antisemitism and led to persecution, mass killings, and pogroms, and was used as part of Nazi propaganda to justify the Holocaust. The myth of deicide painted Jews as the mortal enemy of Christianity. It inspired more blood libels, like accusing Jews of murdering Christian children to use their blood in religious ceremonies. This libel, along with those of Jews poisoning the well and host desecration, was used to vilify Jews and contributed to the long history of antisemitism.
In 1964, under Pope Paul VI, the Catholic Church finally discredited the notion of Jewish deicide in its “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.” This act signaled a significant step towards promoting interfaith understanding, acknowledging the errors of past misinterpretations, and dispelling centuries of libels against Jews.
The 60 years that have passed since then are, however, not enough time to weed out the internalized stereotypes about Jews that have come from the deicide trope. Unfortunately, the ease with which Jaime Foxx could post such a statement, and the endless support it elicited, only showed us how pervasive age-old antisemitism still is. Jaime Foxx has no history of antisemitism, and he was likely regurgitating the same myths that have been repeated for millennia.
The crucifixion of Jesus was a complex event influenced by political, religious, and theological factors, and blaming an entire religious group for his death is unjust and perpetuates harmful stereotypes. Individuals, especially those with large platforms, must understand how internalized stereotypes harm Jews. Religious and minority groups must learn from history, reject baseless myths, and work toward a world that promotes understanding and tolerance.
The writer is a social media activist with over 10 years of experience working for Israeli and Jewish causes and cause-based NGOs. She is co-founder and COO of Social Lite Creative, a digital marketing firm specializing in geopolitics.