Actress Jennifer Aniston has been getting dragged online for the last few days, mostly by Black Twitter. The criticism of Aniston stems from an incident on social media in which actor Jamie Foxx recently posted a statement that some took as antisemitic. The post read: “THEY KILLED THIS DUDE NAME JESUS…WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY’LL DO TO YOU???! #fakefriends #fakelove.”
Aniston was involved initially because she (or someone using her official account) appeared to have liked the post, although she claims she didn’t. She clearly had people reaching out to her asking why she liked the post and in response, she came out and released her own statement:
“This really makes me sick. I did not ‘like’ this post on purpose or by accident. And more importantly, I want to be clear to my friends and anyone hurt by this showing up in their feeds – I do NOT support any form of antisemitism.” She ended by saying, “I truly don’t tolerate HATE of any kind. Period.”
I do not want to say that Jennifer Aniston is completely clueless or causing deliberate drama; she did speak out against George Floyd’s murder, for example, and donated money to racial justice charities. Good for her! However, white celebrities publicly shaming Black celebrities over something that is misinterpreted or simply untrue is an ongoing problem that has to stop.
The line of thinking from Foxx’s original post (now deleted) is fairly common in the Black community. As such, many people, especially on Black Twitter, and myself included, did not take Jamie Foxx’s post as having an antisemitic meaning. The post seems to be a clear reference to Judas, and the hashtag #fakefriends helps add context because Judas was the ultimate betrayer. The language does have similarities to some well-worn antisemitic tropes, which is where the confusion was ignited.
Aniston added her two cents as soon as people thought she had liked this post, since people usually see liking a post as confirmation of your approval of its contents. I wish Aniston had attempted to contact Foxx if she was truly so upset by this post. Another option is she could have not said anything and just unliked the post if it was her account that somehow liked it. But no. She took to social media to act as a justice warrior for Jewish people. Some called her a “Karen.” Others told her plainly to mind her business.
I think this is simply an example of white celebrities trying way too hard to not be offensive, while ultimately being offensive anyway, and at the expense of a Black man. Jennifer Aniston was so concerned with her image that she was willing to throw Jamie Foxx under the bus to protect herself, making very public accusations of “HATE” and antisemitism against him.
As a reminder, Jamie Foxx has been dealing with an extreme health situation. While many details remain, we know that Foxx had recently been hospitalized with a possible stroke. Many were concerned that he wouldn’t make it. Now he is trying to come out of it, released a video to fans, and is trying to move on, all while also apparently dealing with “fake friends” exploiting his situation. And then Jennifer Aniston had to go and insert herself.
Foxx came out and apologized anyway, though, and deleted the original post. He acknowledged that to the Jewish community, his words had a meaning he wasn’t aware of and didn’t intend:
“I want to apologize to the Jewish community and everyone who was offended by my post. I now know my choice of words have caused offense and I’m sorry. That was never my intent.”
Additionally, he noted: “To clarify, I was betrayed by a fake friend and that’s what I meant with ‘they’ not anything more. I only have love in my heart for everyone. I love and support the Jewish community. My deepest apologies to anyone who was offended ❤️❤️❤️. Nothing but love always, Jamie Foxx.”
But you know who didn’t apologize? Aniston! A lot of people online think that she should apologize to Foxx for criticizing him unfairly—and I agree. Hurling allegations can have a lot of repercussions, especially for people in the public eye. If Foxx thought it right to apologize, then Aniston should too!
(featured image: Alberto E. Rodriguez, Getty Images)
