LaKeith Stanfield is sorry he didnât shut down anti-Semitic Clubhouse discussion

Oscar-nominated actor LaKeith Stanfield is apologizing for his participation in a Clubhouse chat room where âabhorrent anti-Semitic statementsâ were made last week. He has also posted a statement from the man who created that room.
The 29-year-old, who played FBI informant Bill OâNeal in the 2020 movie âJudas and the Black Messiah,â said Friday on Instagram that he had entered a chat room Wednesday about the teachings of Louis Farrakhan the day before and was made a moderator once his presence was noticed.
Clubhouse is an invite-only social media platform where users can gather in audio chat rooms to discuss myriad topics. Peopleâs real names appear in a list, and moderators have the ability to allow participants to chime in.
The room that Stanfield joined, âSomeone Ended the Room About Farrakhan,â was a spinoff of a previous Farrakhan room that was shut down by its moderator after the talk became too inflammatory, according to the Daily Beast. Podcaster Sam Bito started the new room, according to an Instagram video Stanfield posted Saturday.
âI was the person that made him [Stanfield] a moderator,â Bito said in the video. âHe has nothing to do with this. Of course, heâs famous, so people want to focus on him. But he didnât perpetuate anything, he didnât say anything anti-Semitic.â He said Stanfieldâs participation became a story because celebrity âsells.â
Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hamptonâs widow Akua Njeri and son Fred Hampton Jr. were instrumental in bringing the story of âJudas and the Black Messiahâ to the screen.
Stanfield, who has 80,000 Clubhouse followers, addressed his actions â or lack thereof â in his Friday Instagram statement.
âAt some point during the dialogue the discussion took a very negative turn when several users made abhorrent anti-Semitic statements and at that point,â the actor wrote, âI should have either shut down the discussion or removed myself from it entirely.â
Stanfield continued: â 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 to hate speech. I am not an anti-Semite nor do I condone any of the beliefs discussed in that chat room.â
But a reported participant in the Clubhouse room said damage was done.
âHonestly, I canât describe it⊠I felt sick to my stomach for most of it,â chat listener Kareem Rifai told the Daily Beast Friday. âSome of the things that were said were worse than things that Iâve read or heard about neo-Nazis saying, it was insane.â
A question for Daniel Kaluuya seemed to be intended for fellow Black actor Leslie Odom Jr. The journalist who asked it says sheâs being misunderstood.
Rifai said Stanfield tried to stay neutral while remaining in the discussion room, even after a woman who said she was Jewish asked him why he wasnât taking the opportunity to condemn hate speech.
According to Rifai, Stanfield told the woman, ââThis is probably an emotional kind of room for you, tensions are running high, and I understand this is a very heated room,â but allegedly did nothing to counter the discussion.
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