Rapper LL Cool J Has Tons of Jewish Friends — but Can’t Stand Gefilte Fish
Actor and rapper LL Cool J on April 15, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. Image by Getty Images
By Josefin Dolsten May 23, 2016
Rapper LL Cool J has too many Jewish friends to count, but there’s one Jewish custom he won’t get on board with: gefilte fish.
“My grandfather was from the Bronx, he came home with gefilte fish every week. I mean, I didn’t like it, no disrespect, but I loved him, it wasn’t my thing, but I always had great Jewish friends, always, they’ve been good to me,” the rapper, whose stage name is an acronym for Ladies Love Cool James, told the Jewish Journal.
“I can go on and on and on and on and on, about the different Jewish friends I’ve had and it’s always been natural for me,” he said.
LL Cool J also said that he wants to visit Israel. “I would love to go. I really would. I’ve never been but first time for everything, right?”
The rapper was attending a launch event in Beverly Hills for the Ulmer Institute, a trauma center that will use Israeli trauma treatment methods. At the event the center’s founder, Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, who is black, spoke of the importance of unity between African-Americans and Jews, according to the Jewish Journal.
Contact Josefin Dolsten at dolsten@forward.com or on Twitter, @JosefinDolsten
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
