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LaKeith Stanfield slammed for moderating anti-Semitic chat, Internet says he 'continues to be problematic'

This is not the first time when Stanfield participated in a chat room on the Clubhouse app. In December 2020, he came under fire after he participated in a 'moan room' where women judged men making sounds of ecstasy

LaKeith Stanfield, who recently got nominated for an Oscar for his role in the critically acclaimed drama ‘Judah and the Black Messiah’, was called out on the internet for moderating a discussion about Louis Farrakhan's anti-Semitism on the Clubhouse app. The chat group apparently shared a lot of hateful comments about Jews comparing them to "thieves" and "Satan spawn."

The 29-year-old actor was not accused of the anti-Semitic speech himself, but he was called out for not going against it either. A discussion on “Did Min. Farrakhan Tarnish His Legacy by Being Antisemitic?” first got shut down when someone launched another room titled ‘"Someone Ended the Room About Farrakhan”, as reported by The Daily Beast. Also, this is not the first time when Stanfield participated in a chat room on Clubhouse. In December 2020, he came under fire after he participated in a “moan room” where women judged men making sounds of ecstasy. The renowned actor also used the platform in March for a casting call for his upcoming project in London.
 
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What is the entire controversy about?

Slamming the actor, a viral tweet claimed, “Hate to add another one to the list but a few quotes for everyone from this room: Jews are 'hymies,' 'split-tongued liars,' 'thieves' and 'Satan spawn,'" adding, “Very interesting choice, LaKeith Stanfield. Always interesting to see who stands by and co-signs vile Jew hatred.” According to the publication The Daily Beast, one Jewish woman called out Stanfield when things got out of control in the second chat room. The woman reportedly asked the actor why he was involved in a conversation that was amplifying hate speech. To this he had reportedly replied according to an author who was also part of the chat, “This is probably an emotional kind of room for you, tensions are running high, and I understand this is a very heated room.” The author told the publication, “Then he [Stanfield] just kind of danced around it not really saying anything.”  The author added, “You can’t stay neutral in that type of situation, when there’s so clearly a side that is spewing hate speech and another side that’s trying to just defend themselves,” he added. “The fact he sat in that room for hours on end, making it available to thousands and thousands of people on their Clubhouse feed, it’s irresponsible.”

Another Jewish woman called out the actor, as reported by the same website. Dragging Stanfield in the conversation, the unidentified woman asserted, “It was a shame that he entered the room and that he decided the position of a moderator was the correct role for him within the space. His reputation being on that stage was on the line. Twitter was watching and he was not calling out the anti-Semitism that was happening. Seventy-nine thousand people had the ability to come into a space where Hitler rhetoric was being used because he was in the room. Seventy-nine thousand people had the ability to come into a room where they were using the words of Farrakhan and saying it was OK against the Jewish people.” 

‘They clearly weren’t listening to us’

Looking at the storm brewing on Twitter and on the Clubhouse app, Stanfield apparently decided to come forward on another chat room which was moderated by a panel of Jewish educators. While addressing the controversy, the California native said, “It’s been a crazy couple 48 hours. I’ve been in a couple rooms where a lot of s**t has been discussed and talked about, very heightened emotional states. It’s been very enlightening and interesting to me, I never really knew that this debate existed in this way about identity, the origins of Judaism in Jewishness, and how many different interpretations there are, different things, whether or not it’s a religion and ethno-religion or what it is a faith race.”

He further stated, as reported by The Daily Beast, “Someone would say something that was without a doubt anti-Semitic… and then instead of acknowledging why it was anti-Semitic, it would just go back to that original person, and then it would kind of repeat what they were saying, they clearly weren’t listening to us.” Even though his statements were well-received by the group members, he never really apologized for the entire situation. 

‘This guy continues to be problematic’

The news of Lakeith Stanfield’s latest controversy soon led to chaos on Twitter as many logged into the micro-blogging site to express their opinions. Speaking on the same lines, one user stated, “Good actor. Not a very wise man.” Another stated, “lakeith stanfield was moderating during hours an antisemitic convo on clubhouse ???? wtf.” One added, “I’m sure social audio on every app will be just fine” whereas, another asserted, “You'd think the moaning would be the worst thing Lakeith Stanfield did on Clubhouse.”

The next one posted, “This guy continues to be problematic. why is he still getting work? there are other talented actors.” One individual shared, “Will be interesting to see if @Clubhouse decides to suspend Lakeith Stanfield for his role in spewing hate speech... or if because he's a celebrity, they will look the other way.” One user concluded, “I've loved LaKeith Stanfield in just about every thing I've seen him in. Beyond dismayed at this.”