Madonna Instagram post of Louis Farrakhan video racks up 700,000 views

Image by getty images
(JTA) — In the past few weeks, several celebrities have faced a backlash for sharing statements from Louis Farrakhan.
But one star seems to have escaped notice: Madonna.
On July 4, Madonna posted a video to her Instagram account that was a trailer for a speech by Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who has spouted anti-Semitic rhetoric over the years, that same day. It has since racked up 710,000 views. Madonna has more than 15 million Instagram followers.
Some of the comments on the video express surprise that Madonna, who has been an advocate for the LGBTQ community and been an enthusiastic proponent of the study of Kabbalah, or Jewish mysticism, would boost a man with a long history of anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ statements.
“No no no no no no no this is not a voice you should be sharing,” one commenter wrote. “Much love but good god.”
Several other celebrities have defended or praised Farrakhan and echoed his anti-Semitic rhetoric over the past several weeks. They include NFL player DeSean Jackson, former NBA player turned talking head Stephen Jackson, TV star Nick Cannon, comedian Chelsea Handler and rapper and actor Ice Cube. All but Ice Cube apologized.
The post Madonna Instagram post of Louis Farrakhan video racks up 700,000 views appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
