Following a Daily Beast report questioning why he had moderated a Clubhouse chat room in which users espoused anti-Semitic conspiracy theories last Wednesday, LaKeith Stanfield posted a lengthy “unconditional†apology to Instagram, expressing his regret that he didn’t immediately shut down or exit the conversation. “I unconditionally apologize for what went on in that chat room, and for allowing my presence there to give a platform to hate speech,†he wrote Friday. “I am not an anti-Semite, nor do I condone any of the beliefs discussed in that chat room.â€
“Yesterday I entered an online chat room on Clubhouse about the teachings of Louis Farrakhan. When the room’s participants noticed me, I was quickly made a moderator of this room,†said Stanfield. “At some point during the dialogue, the discussion 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.†According to the Daily Beast, Stanfield himself reportedly “never said anything that would be considered anti-Semitic.â€
The leader of the Nation of Islam since 1978, Farrakhan has been criticized for decades for public anti-Semitic statements. During one 2018 address in Chicago, he declared, “the powerful Jews are my enemy†and blamed Jewish people’s “grip on the media†for “all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out, turning men into women and women into men.â€
On Thursday, the Daily Beast reports, the actor took part in another Clubhouse chat, this one moderated by Jewish educators attempting to address the detrimental rhetoric, during which Stanfield acknowledged that, as the moderator of the “derailed†room, he needed to pay “attention to what is actually being discussed, and determine if that’s a discussion that you really want to get into.â€
Stanfield’s Instagram statement continued, “I condemn hate speech and discriminatory views of every kind. I unconditionally apologize for what went on in that chat room, and for allowing my presence there to give a platform for hate speech. I am not an anti-Semite nor do I condone any of the beliefs discussed in that chat room.â€