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By Lieba Nesis
Conductor and Israel devotee Leonard Bernstein would be turning over in his grave at Bradley Cooper’s portrayal of him in Netflix’s “Maestro.” Not only did anti-Israel Cooper sign a letter urging an immediate ceasefire before Israel defended itself in mid-October; Cooper has also been cavorting with arch anti-Semite Gigi Hadid as she continues spewing venom at the Jewish people.
The son of religious Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, Bernstein famously visited Israel in November 1948 to tour the war torn country and was immediately smitten. On November 20th 1948 a 30-year-old Bernstein accompanied by thirty five musicians, arrived in an armored bus to lead a concert for Israeli soldiers who defied a UN order to withdraw from Beersheba-a town they had captured weeks earlier. Writing to his parents Bernstein declared, “If my present mood keeps up I see my future as very close to the future of Israel. I can do so much here-and it’s the most important of all.”
Gigi Hadid fears she has caused ‘collateral damage’ for love interest Bradley Cooper after backlash over her Instagram post about Israel ‘raping and torturing’ Palestinians – and plans to ‘stay out of the limelight’ so scandal can ‘die down’ https://t.co/at3Cnx4SFR
— The Jewish Voice (@JewishVoice) December 1, 2023
🇺🇸 | The American model #GigiHadid states in a video that #Israelis are harvesting organs from the bodies of deceased #Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/VIbYLdRDZf
— Breaking News (@PlanetReportHQ) November 27, 2023
Fast forward 75 years later and a non-Jewish Brad Cooper is portraying the American composer in “Maestro” a film currently in limited release before streaming on Netflix on December 20th. Cooper is in the incipient stages of lobbying hard for an Academy Award as despite his nine prior nominations he has yet to attain the coveted trophy. Produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg “Maestro” has been embroiled in controversy firstly for choosing a non-Jew to portray Bernstein-an inimitable figure whose identity was inextricable to his orthodox upbringing; and secondly for Cooper’s utilization of a grotesque prosthetic nose conjuring up images of Nazi propaganda-a disfigurement often termed “Jewface.” Cooper’s own nose is sufficiently prominent with the prosthetic’s colossal size far exceeding Bernstein’s own-making a mockery out of the entirety of the movie.
In 2015 Cooper portrayed Broadway’s “Elephant Man” by the evocation of malformations: eschewing all forms of Hollywood intervention to alter his appearance. Yet in a far less exaggerated situation he morphed his entire face for “Maestro”” with a six hour per day makeup job-at the risk of insulting the entire Jewish race which has increasingly been confronted by violence, murder and assault. This contortion is familiar to the entertainment community as Jew hater Macklemore wore a big witch nose, beard and shaggy black wig for his 2014 Seattle concert; Tom Cruise portrayed Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder (2008) with a large nose, fingers and bald head; and Sean Penn similarly donned a large nose, bald head and sickening smirk as reviled Jewish lawyer David Kleinfeld in “Carlito’s Way” (1993). But that was decades ago before the woke movement gripped our culture with a stubborn insouciance. How could a 2023 movie studio authorize the depiction of a Jew in such an abhorrent fashion when blackface, yellowface and Jewface have been repudiated?
Bernstein’s children Alexander, Jamie and Nina addressed the controversy by excusing the prosthetic saying, “Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance and we’re perfectly fine with that.” The usage of the word “amplify” is highly revealing as it manifests Cooper’s decision to unnecessarily exaggerate the Jewishness of Bernstein. Bernstein’s children’s acquiescence is irrelevant as they are due to receive substantial compensation upon the movie’s success and accolades. The Jewish community’s revulsion is far more pivotal as they are the consistent object of derision. Cooper recently addressed the controversy remarking, “we just had to do it. Otherwise I just wouldn’t believe he’s a human being”-clearly insensitive to the raging global anti-Semitism.
Gigi Hadid is a blatant antisemite.
Any company that works with her
going forward is complicit in her Jew hatred. pic.twitter.com/HMqTF4dJ2E— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 25, 2023
More shocking still is Cooper’s coupling with model Gigi Hadid which began in August and has gained steam with a source telling Page Six the relationship is “on steroids” and “getting serious very quickly.” While spending numerous weekends canoodling at Taylor Swift’s ultra-private Newport mansion Cooper has been seen wearing Hadid’s overpriced and unattractive clothing label “Guest in Residence” on numerous occasions-this is as corny as it gets. As the relationship heats up so does Hadid’s vile anti-Semitism. After the Hamas massacre of October 7th Gigi took three days to respond measuredly with “the terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with and does not do any good for the ‘Free Palestine’ movement.”
However, since that time her rhetoric has become increasingly inflammatory with a since deleted Instagram post on November 24th after Israel welcomed home the first 13 of its more than 240 innocent captives that was flagrantly offensive. Instead of applauding the release of innocent children brutalized by Hamas, Hadid posted “Israel is the only country in the world that keeps children as prisoners of war” and falsely accused Israel of “abduction, rape, humiliation, torture and murder of Palestinians years and years before October 7th 2023.” To illustrate her point she highlighted Ahmed Manasra who she says was abducted by Israel at the age of 12 and put in solitary confinement despite severe health issues failing to mention he had critically knifed a 20-year-old security guard and 13 year old boy in East Jerusalem all of which was caught on surveillance video. Hadid’s 79.1 million Instagram followers reactions were mixed with some praising her overt anti-Semitism while others such as music mogul Scooter Braun accusing her of spreading false information. She comes by her Jew hatred honestly as her Palestinian father Mohamed Hadid compared Israel to the Nazis in an October 28th Instagram post and accused “Hitlerian” Netanyahu of orchestrating October 7th.
Absolutely despicable.
Gigi Hadid just posted the below to her millions of followers falsely accusing Israel of abducting, torturing, raping children.
Her example was Ahmed Almansara.
Here is video of Ahmed and his cousin running through a Jewish settlement looking for… pic.twitter.com/LQOhDUbQc8
— AG (@AGHamilton29) November 24, 2023
Similarly, sister Bella Hadid was famously photographed in a mask and keffiyeh in May 2021 while chanting “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free”-a call for the destruction of Israel. Gigi has only heightened her invectives as she reshared a video on November 26th by Instagram user Umme Murtaza claiming to show that Israeli authorities had harvested the organs of dead Palestinians for years without their consent. This type of blood libel was decried by pro-Israel sites Trinity Votes and StopAntisemites with even Newsweek expressing astonishment. What’s even more appalling is she continues to be heralded by fashion magazines, her agency IMG Worldwide run by Ari Emanuel and Jewish designers such as Ralph Lauren. The far less extreme and successful Susan Sarandon was recently dropped by United Talent Agency for saying Jews are experiencing the same torment as Muslims. Yet Gigi remains on top of the fashion and celebrity pyramid with companies loath to cut ties due to her highly lucrative audience. Whether her beau Brad Cooper has encouraged her to speak out or at best remains silent is unknown. However, his donning of a prosthetic nose and signing a letter for Israel to cease action make his portrayal of Leonard Bernstein all the more reprehensible.
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