Actor Michael Rapaport delivered an unhinged rant about the Israel-Gaza war, claiming that if the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas were Black, nobody in the world would be calling for a cease-fire.
At least 12,000 Palestinians, 5,000 of them children, have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7 after Hamas terrorists murdered 1,400 Israelis and took at least 240 people hostage in a surprise attack. Israel promised to destroy Hamas and began bombing civilian areas in Gaza they claim are infiltrated by Hamas, and international calls for a cease-fire occurred as footage of the carnage was unveiled.
Rapaport took to X, formally Twitter, to voice his displeasure in a video for the cease-fire calls on Nov. 16.
Rapaport captioned the video, “If 10 Black People from America were taken Hostage in Gaza by Hamas the entire world would be on the same page! PERIOD!!! #Israel #Jewish #brittneygriner Free All of Them!”
“Yo, if 20 American tourists, forget the 1,200 people that were murdered, slaughtered, civilians, if 20 American civilians, all African American, all Black, all ages were taken hostage, and 10 of them were murdered and raped, and there was 10 surviving American tourist hostages that were all Black, there’s not one motherf—ker in this country that would be talking about cease fire,” he exclaimed.
Rapaport did not stop his wayward rant there.
“There’s not one person. It would be ‘Bring the f—king hostages back, and they better be, they better be alive! They better be pristine.’ There wouldn’t be no cease-fire, there wouldn’t be no — can you imagine college students ripping down posters of 10 Black people from America if they were taken hostage and 10 of them were raped and murdered?”
He continued, “The African American community would be demanding they came back. White people, Black people, Jewish people would be demanding they come back. There wouldn’t be a discussion of a cease-fire. That’s a fact! Nobody can tell me s—t that that is not a f—king fact.
“Forget these 1,200 other people that were murdered,” he added. “I’m talking about just 10. I don’t compare tragedy, 9/11 versus the Oklahoma City bombing versus this, that and the third. If it was just 10 African American people, they would be demanding, everybody would be demanding, ‘Get them back. Get them back. Get them back.’ The word ‘cease-fire’ wouldn’t even be in the vernacular. It’d be like, ‘Ravage the f—kin’ place until they come back, and they better come back safe and sound.'”
X users were shocked by his comments, and several wondered why he thought it necessary to bring Black people into it. Others wondered if the “Cop Land” actor was acquainted with how Black people are treated in America.
“They wouldn’t even pick up the phone if it were Black people,” noted another. One X user replied, “You don’t know how mad this man made me! The audacity!!!!”
Radio host Mo’ Kelly replied, “1. Brittney Griner was held in a prison for 19 months by a state actor in a known location. 2. Negotiations are being presently conducted for Israeli hostages. 3. You are an ass and deserve all the hell and hate you will have earned from this stupid and insulting post.”
Griner attracted global attention in 2022 after being apprehended in Russia for a drug-related incident. Despite being initially convicted and handed a nine-year sentence, she was subsequently released as part of a prisoner exchange.
After receiving pushback for his comments on social media, Rapaport replied, “Blah blah blah, I said what I said and what I said is facts. You can flip-flop it whatever & however you want.”
According to NBC News, 5,000 of the 12,000 dead in Gaza are children, 3,000 are women, and at least 3,700 people are missing. At least 1,800 children are believed to be beneath the rubble.
