Karl Lagerfeld Claims Taking In Refugees Is Embracing The Enemies Of Jews

Image by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
According to a report in the Times of Israel Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld evoked controversy this week when he made an appearance on French talk show Canal 8 and eviscerated German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her open borders policy.
According to a translation provided by the Times, Lagerfeld said, “You cannot kill millions of Jews and then take in millions of their worst enemies afterwards, even if there are decades [between the events].”
He went on to claim that Merkel was trying to rebrand “after the wicked step-mother image she gave herself in the Greek crisis.”
Lagerfeld’s statement induced hundreds of critical comments claiming that Lagerfeld’s statements were racist and Islamophobic. France’s Higher Audiovisual Council is currently investigating the matter.
Michelle Honig is a style writer at the Forward. Contact her at [email protected]. Find her on Instagram and Twitter.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
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 Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

