Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Hollywood Hillbillies: ‘Jews Are Too Smart For Manual Labor’

(JTA) — This week saw the premiere of cable network REELZ’s new reality show, “Hollywood Hillbillies.” Not included in the episode — but available thanks to the generosity of the folks at TMZ — is this clip in which Mema, transplanted to LaLa Land (LA) from small-town Georgia, shares her feelings about Jews.

“I love Jews. I’ve never seen one that couldn’t get some s***| done,” Mema said after spending the day with her Rolls Royce-driving Jewish manager David Weintraub. “You never see a Jew doing manual labor. They’re all smart.”

More shocking than this admission is the fact that, after the success of “Honey Boo Boo” and “Duck Dynasty,” this show took so long to happen. A reality reboot of the classic “The Beverly Hillbillies” = genius.

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.