UPDATED 5/10, 10:40 a.m. ET: LaKeith Stanfield said he “unconditionally apologizes” for moderating a Clubhouse room that contained anti-Semitic rhetoric.
In an Instagram post, Stanfielf wrote that the conversation “took a very negative turn when several users made abhorrent anti-Semitic statements, and at that point, I should have either shut down the discussion or removed myself from it entirely.” He added that “I condemn hate speech and discriminatory views of any kind.”
See original story below.
Fresh off an Oscar nomination for his role in the 2021 hit film Judas and the Black Messiah, LaKeith Stanfield is facing backlash after moderating a Clubhouse room in which users were spreading hateful conspiracy theories about Jewish people.
According to the Daily Beast, the 29-year-old actor made an appearance as a moderator during a bigoted discussion on Clubhouse Wednesday night. Although he contributed to the chat, four people confirmed to the Daily Beast that Stanfield never said anything that would be considered anti-Semitic.
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On Thursday, Stanfield joined another Clubhouse room moderated by a panel of Jewish educators and addressed the backlash he’s received following Wednesday night’s session.
“It’s been a crazy couple 48 hours,” Stanfield said. “I’ve been in a couple rooms where a lot of shit has been discussed and talked about, very heightened emotional states. It’s been very enlightening and interesting to me, I never really knew that this debate existed in this way about identity, the origins of Judaism in Jewishness, and how many different interpretations there are different things, whether or not it’s a religion and ethno-religion or what it is a faith race.”
On Friday, hours after the publication condemned Stanfield for “flirting with anti-Semitism,” the actor took to Instagram with what appeared to be a response to the backlash.
They’ll always try to discredit and attack you...futile,” Stanfield captioned a picture that read, “thinkin outside of the box come wit a cost.” The Instagram post has since been deleted.
Complex has reached out to a representative of Stanfield for comment.