John Cusack apologises for posting Anti-Semitic tweet

Actor received a huge backlash over since deleted post

John Cusack has been forced to apologise after he shared an Anti-Semitic image online.

The High Fidelity actor received a backlash after he shared a meme, which has since been deleted, of a large hand with a Star of David on its wrist, oppressing a group of people.

A caption on it read: “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticise,” before he added his own comment, “follow the money”.

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The caption was first spoken by white nationalist Kevin Strom.

Cusack initially blamed his comments on a Twitter bot before he said he had “mistakenly retweeted an alt-right account” believing the image related to an Israeli hospital bombing.

The actor added: “It’s clear that even if it was Israel’s flag & even if you don’t have anti-Semitic bone in your body, it is still an anti-Semitic cartoon. Because it deploys anti-Jewish stereotypes.

“I [retweeted] and quickly deleted an image that’s harmful to both Jewish and Palestinian friends, and for that I’m sorry.”

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English comedian David Baddiel, who is also Jewish, was among those who criticised the actor.

“John Cusack says he didn’t at first realise that the image was anti-Semitic,” he wrote. “My, it’s a troublesome old blind spot for progressives, isn’t it?”

Reported instances of Anti-Semitism have jumped 57% in the US in 2017 compared to the previous year, according to the Anti-Defamation League, with cases reported in every single state for the first time since 2010.

According to BBC News, last December, an EU report – based on a survey of 12 European countries – found that Anti-Semitism presently pervades European life.

Meanwhile, it was previously announced that a female-led reboot of High Fidelity was being turned into a TV series by Disney.

Cusack was highly critical of the plans saying that they will “fuck it up”.

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