Julianna Margulies is being condemned for “unhinged” comments made about the Black and LGBTQ communities while discussing the Israel-Hamas conflict during a podcast.
The ER and Good Wife star appeared on an episode of The Back Room with Andy Ostroy on 21 November, but a soundbite from the recording has since gone viral on social media.
As Margulies discussed her concerns surrounding the rise of antisemitism in the US, she went onto claim that the Black and LGBTQ communities were not sufficiently supporting Israel in the wake of the 7 October attacks.
Margulies cited the times she has previously supported both communities, and blamed TikTok for what she believes to be a rise in anti-Israel sentiment among younger people.
Margulies then suggested that these negative views come mainly from progressive young people within the LGBTQ and Black communties.
The actor claimed that “kids [who] use pronouns” are “spewing this antisemitic hate”, remarking: “These people who want us to call them They/Them, or whatever they want us to call them – which I have respectfully really made a point of doing, like be whoever you want to be.”
She continued: “It’s those people that will be the first people beheaded and their heads played [like] a soccer ball. Terrorists who don’t want women to have their rights, don’t want LGBTQ people… this is who you’re supporting?”
Margulies then claimed of the Black community: “You know, there was a film being shown by this Black lesbian club on the Columbia campus and they put up signs that said ‘no Jews allowed.’”
The actor was seemingly – and incorrectly – referencing a New York Post story about the LionLez group at Columbia University, which said no “Zionists” were permitted to attend the screening.
She continued: “And as someone who plays a lesbian journalist on The Morning Show, I am more offended by it as a lesbian than I am as a Jew, to be honest with you.
“I want to say to them, “you f***ing idiots, you don’t exist [to Hamas]. You’re even lower than the Jews [to Hamas]. A. You’re Black. B. You’re gay, and you’re turning your back against the people who support you. Because Jews, they rally around everybody.”
Many who have listened to Margulies’s comments have been left outraged, with many criticising the actor on social media for expressing “racist” views.
Sharing the clip on social media, @samah_fadil wrote: “Listen to Julianna Margulies go on an absolutely unhinged rant against Black people for supporting Palestine, claiming Muslims would play soccer ball with the decapitated heads of Black queer people if they could, and saying she knows better as someone who played a lesbian on TV.”
Julianna Margulies— (Getty Images)
”This is one of the most racist things I’ve heard a celeb say in a very long time, I’m actually shocked,” @KindaHagi wrote, with BBC presenter Richie Brave adding: “Listened to this clip and ‘You’re even lower than the Jews’ is a really weird thing to say.
Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah wrote: “Wish I could say that Julianna Margulies’ racist rant against Black people is an outlier. But as I’ve said before, I’ve heard this same sentiment from supposedly liberal circles. Solidarity w/ Black people is transactional. We are supposed to be grateful charity recipients.”
Meanwhile, @monisha_rajesh wrote: “It takes skills to pack anti-Blackness, Islamophobia and transphobia so deftly into 90 seconds. Julianna Margulies take a bow.”
The Independent has contacted Margulies for comment.
