Jamie Foxx raised eyebrows on August 4 when a cryptic and out-of-character post appeared on his Instagram. "They killed this dude named Jesus...What do you think they'll do to you???! #fakefriends #fakelove." Later, Foxx reshared a comment on his post which said "Judas showed his self!!! @iamjamiefoxx know them for what they are!!." Both posts have since been deleted. While it is unclear who or what Foxx is referring to, the post was met with strong backlash from a number of groups.
Many saw the post as Anti-Semitic as it, unintentionally or not, invoked the notion of Jewish Decide. Jewish Decide is the belief that the Jewish people are collectively responsible for the death of Jesus. In the early history of Christianity, the idea was used as justification for pogroms and other acts of violence and persecution against the Jews. Others took offense from Foxx appearing to refer to Jesus as "dude". Finally, there were those who took the post as "proof" that this was not the real Jamie Foxx and that he had in fact died and been replaced by a clone during his recent hospitalization. Overall, no one was particularly happy about this post. While the posts have been deleted, Foxx is yet to release a statement about them.
Jamie Foxx Backlash Grows
While Foxx has not released a statement about the posts, other celebrities have. After liking the post, Jennifer Aniston released a statement apologizing for doing so. "This makes me sick. “I did not ‘like’ this post on purpose or by accident. And more importantly, I want to be clear to my friends and anyone hurt by this showing up in their feeds – I do NOT support any form of antisemitism. I truly don’t tolerate HATE of any kind. Period," Aniston wrote on Instagram along with an image of a site decrying Foxx's post as anti-Semitic. Aniston and Foxx appeared in the films Horrible Bosses and Horrible Bosses 2 together.
The debacle comes days after Foxx credited his sister with saving his life in a post made on her birthday. “Happy birthday to my beautiful for sister @frequency11 “D”… you are magical you are beautiful you are the courageous lionesses #leoseason And without you I would not be here… had you not made the decisions that you made I would’ve lost my life…. I love you forever and ever happy birthday sis."
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