Steve Bannon’s Jewish Hollywood Partner Insists ‘He’s No Anti-Semite’

Steve Bannon Image by YouTube Screenshot
Jeff Kwatinetz was Steve Bannon’s partner during the White Houses adviser’s stint as a Hollywood financier. Now, the Jewish producer and talent manager is speaking out in defense of his ex-pal.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Kwatinetz, who identifies as liberal and a Bernie Sanders supporter, said that he had never heard a racist word come out of Bannon’s mouth.
“I know that he’s not anti-Semitic. I am absolutely positive that he’s not anti-Semitic or racist. It is absurd. I am Jewish, Roy Furman was Jewish, Andrew Breitbart was Jewish,” Kwatinetz said. “He is not anti-Semitic. Period.”
Kwatinetz, who accused the media of being biased against his former partner, was not asked about Bannon priding himself for opening the door to alt-right writers and white nationalists while running Breitbart.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
