Jamie Foxx is at the center of a topic that consumed social media on Saturday afternoon. One day earlier, Foxx shared a post with his Instagram followers.
“They killed this dude named Jesus. What do you think they’ll do to you?” he wrote before punctuating his remarks with hashtags like #FakeFriends and #FakeLove.
The post was liked and shared thousands of times by his followers on the Meta-supported app, including an account belonging to actress Jennifer Aniston. A Wider Frame, a media platform that aims to deliver “quick, easy and comprehensive Jewish world news” to its readers, shared a screenshot of Foxx’s post and accused him of engaging in antisemitic rhetoric.
“Actor Jamie Foxx posts horrifically antisemitic message to his 16.7 million followers,” a statement from A Wider Frame reads.
Shortly thereafter, Aniston doubled back and issued a statement to her Instagram followers.
“I did not ‘like’ this post on purpose or by accident,” she wrote.
“And, more importantly, I want to be clear to my friends and anyone hurt by this showing up on their feeds – I do not support any form of antisemitism.”
Not long thereafter, Foxx issued a statement of his own.
“I want to apologize to the Jewish community and everyone who was offended by my post,” Foxx wrote.
“I now know my choice of words has caused offense and I’m sorry.”
As Foxx issued a statement, many critiqued the response to Foxx’s initial post and Aniston’s response.
“Jamie Foxx was talking about fake Friends, so it’s only ironic that he gets heat from someone that was on the fake Living Single,” Rev. Melech Thomas tweeted.
“Jennifer Aniston owes Jamie Foxx an apology because this is just silly,” Philip Lewis of the HuffPost chimed in.
“Jamie Foxx is recovering from a major life catastrophe. He nearly died. While in recovery, white people misconstrued an Instagram post about his own personal issues, and they centered themselves in it. Now, he’s apologizing to an entire community he wasn’t addressing,” Dr. Jenn M. Jackson added.
With all the AAVE y'all like to use, you would think
Jamie Foxx would not have to explain himself ?Our culture is so easily assimilated but rarely understood.
— Ebonix • Manifester ??? (@Ebonix) August 6, 2023
Furthermore, many took issue with A Wider Frame’s positioning of Foxx’s initial statement as antisemitic.
“[A Wider Frame], you should be ashamed. You [don’t] know Black culture. It has nothing to do with being Jewish. My lord what people will do for attention,” one person commented on Instagram.
“The Black community uses this phrase all the time. It has nothing to do with Jewish people being the culprits of [Jesus’] murder. [I]t’s meant to say people, in general, plotted evil against Jesus, a man who was not guilty of anything,” another person added.
In contrast, others pushed back and praised Foxx’s follow-up statement.
“We welcome Jamie Foxx‘s apology and thank him for his clarification. Furthermore, we wish him well as he recovers from his prior hospitalization,” Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League wrote.
“The deicide charge, falsely implicating Jews in Jesus’ death, has fueled antisemitic hatred for centuries. Jamie Foxx did the right thing by apologizing for this statement. It is important for everyone, including Foxx’s millions of followers, to know why his post was harmful,” the American Jewish Committee added.
