LaKeith Stanfield has been frequently lauded for his skills as a thespian and for being a cerebral, politically conscious celebrity.
Therefore, it took many by surprise when Stanfield was a participant in a Clubhouse chat room discussion on Friday, May 7, where other participants allegedly made abhorrent anti-Semitic statements.
The acclaimed star of blockbuster movies Judas and the Black Messiah and Get Out offered his mea culpa to his one million Instagram followers for staying in the chat when the discussion took a dark turn.
“Yesterday I entered an online chat room on Clubhouse about the teachings of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. When the room’s participants noticed me, I was quickly made a moderator of this room,” Stanfield began.
“At some point during the dialogue the discussion took a very negative turn when several users made abhorrent anti-Semitic statements and at that point, I should have either shut down the discussion or removed myself from it entirely. 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.”
The Daily Beast was the first to report the Clubhouse episode, but also noted that Stanfield did not make any of the reprehensible comments that were heard. The publication also acknowledged that Stanfield joined a group of Jewish educators the next day to discuss the previous day’s discussion and admit that it had gotten “derailed.”
