POL STIRS NEW BIAS ANGER
Richardson ripped by Jewish leaders for backing Cannon
Brooklyn Assemblywoman Diana Richardson is in hot water with Jewish leaders who are steaming over comments she made in support of Nick Cannon, the TV star recently fired from ViacomCBS after making anti-Semitic remarks.
Richardson, a Democrat who represents a largely Jewish Crown Heights district, called on her Instagram followers to boycott several media companies under the Viacom umbrella in response to Cannon’s firing. Then, after taking heat for supporting him, she doubled down in a lengthy July 18 Facebook post.
“Songwriter Neyo summed it up best: ‘We’ve all made mistakes. Amazing how easily people forget that while in an attempt to crucify someone else,’” she wrote.
Her comments and the ensuing Facebook discussion — laced with even more anti-Semitic remarks that Richardson doesn’t respond to — prompted a second backlash.
“It’s irresponsible for any elected official — and particularly one who represents such a large Jewish constituency — to be propagating anti-Semitic tropes,” City Councilman Chaim Deutsch said Wednesday. “I hope that Assemblymember Richardson will make an effort to understand the painful impacts of her words on Jewish New Yorkers.”
Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein (D-Brooklyn) also condemned Richardson’s actions, saying Thursday there’s “absolutely no place for antiSemitism, racism or any form of hate.”
The website COL Live first reported on the dust-up over Richardson’s remarks.
Richardson later clarified that she does not “condone anti-Semitism,” telling COL Live that Cannon’s comments were “uncalled for” and “distasteful.”
Richardson did not return messages.
Cannon was fired two weeks ago after an interview with former Public Enemy member Professor Griff in which he passed off conspiracy theories about Jews as truth.
At one point in the interview, Cannon compares Griff’s contention about Jewish influence over media companies to the Rothschilds, the banking family at the center of many antiSemitic conspiracy theories.
Griff himself was booted from PE in 1989 after an interview in which he called Jewish people “wicked.”
Miriam Levy-Haim, a member of the progressive Jewish group Ker a Velt, described Richardson’s support of Cannon as particularly troubling in light of anti-Semitic violence in recent months.
“She needs to take responsibility and be held accountable for what she did,” Levy-Haim said. “This literally impacts our lives. This is not a theoretical issue for us.”
Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, who describes himself as a friend of Richardson, said he is deeply disappointed.
“I still hold out hope that she’s not anti-Semitic,” he said. “But some of her base is, and I think she’s trying to galvanize her base.”
Aside from Deutsch and Eichenstein, other local leaders have remained largely silent on the subject. State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Councilmembers Laurie Cumbo, Brad Lander and Robert Cornegy all did not respond to messages about Richardson’s comments.