Actress Susan Sarandon was fired from the Hollywood agency United Talent Agency (UTA) due to her grotesque anti-Semitic rhetoric, as reported by Page Six.
According to the New York magazine, Sarandon was fired from the agency due to a controversial comment made at a protest in New York amid a sharp rise in anti-Semitism in the United States.
"There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country," said Sarandon, who has been represented by Hollywood UTA since 2014.
The actress starred in successful films such as "Thelma & Louise" and won her Oscar for "Dead Man Walking."
Critics asserted that Sarandon suggested that jews deserve the growing hatred they have experienced since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7.
"When Susan Sarandon said that Jews 'are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country' she was saying that American Jews have it coming - that we don't deserve to live free from harassment and assault," said Aviva Klompas, former director of speechwriting at the Israeli Mission to the United Nations.
When Susan Sarandon said that Jews “are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country” she was saying that American Jews have it coming - that we don't deserve to live free from harassment and assault.
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) November 21, 2023
However, not only Jews criticized the actress, but also American Muslims, who refuted Sarandon's statement about how Muslims live in the United States.
Asra Nomani, an Indian-American Muslim, wrote a lengthy post on X (Twitter) to respond to Sarandon through her experience living in the United States.
"Hi there @SusanSarandon, this is my mom, my dad and me on the rail trail in Morgantown, West by God Virginia. Let me tell you what it means to be Muslim in America," Nomani wrote.
Hi there @SusanSarandon, this is my mom, my dad and me on the rail trail in Morgantown, West by God Virginia. Let me tell you what it means to be Muslim in America.
First, your backstory: At an anti-Israel protest in NYC, you just said, "There are a lot of people that are… pic.twitter.com/zAyUjpTxkY
— Asra Nomani (@AsraNomani) November 20, 2023
Nomani told, first, the story of her father:
"My dad didn't have to become a second-class indentured servant to one of the many tyrants of Muslim countries that use immigrants from India, like my family, as essential slaves (...) my dad got a job as an assistant professor of nutrition. He got rejected first for tenure but being Muslim in America meant he got a right like everybody got — his right to appeal and guess what? He won and he became a full professor."
Then she talked about her mother.
"My mom? Being Muslim in America meant she got to live FREE with the wind in her hair like Masih Alinejad fights for women in the Muslim nation of Iran to be able to enjoy."
Later, she explained how she was able to give birth in the United States outside of marriage, a situation that is punishable in many Muslim countries, even with death.
"Where do you think I came to give birth to my baby in safety and security, without shame? West by God Virginia in the United States of America — where we enjoy equal rights as Muslim AmeriCANs, not AmeriCANTs," Nomani continued.
"This is a 'taste' of life for a Muslim family in America. Please don't minimize the experience of Jewish Americans by sanitizing the hell that it is for Muslims living in Muslim countries and vilifying America for the life — and freedoms — she offers Muslims like my family. Go, live like a Muslim woman in a Muslim country. You will come back to America and kiss the land beneath your feet," she said.
