Jamie Foxx Issues Apology After Being Accused of Antisemitism: “That Was Never My Intent”

Jamie Foxx issued a public apology on Saturday (Aug. 5) after he was accused of antisemitism in his recent Instagram post.

Foxx’s original post — which he shared on Friday (Aug. 4) and has since deleted — read, “They killed this dude name Jesus… What do you think they’ll do to you?” The post also included the hashtags #fakefriends and #fakelove, per a screenshot captured by Pop Crave.

Foxx swiftly apologized after deleting the controversial post. “I want to apologize to the Jewish community and everyone who was offended by my post,” he wrote on Instagram. “I now know my choice of words have caused offense and I’m sorry. That was never my intent.”

He went on to clarify what he meant by his original post. “I was betrayed by a fake friend and that’s what I meant by ‘they’ not anything more,” he explained.

The accusations began after A Wider Frame, a publication that focuses on Jewish current events, called the actor out in their own social media post, writing, “Actor Jamie Foxx posts horrifically antisemitic message to his 16.7 million followers.” Foxx’s social media post stirred up accusations of deicide, which is the baseless antisemitic myth that Jewish people were responsible for Jesus’ murder.

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A post shared by Jamie Foxx (@iamjamiefoxx)

However, some social media users pointed out that his original post was likely referring to Judas, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles who betrayed him.

Jennifer Aniston was also pulled into the mess and forced to apologize. The Friends star issued her own clarification after A Wider Frame’s post appeared to show that an account by her name had liked Foxx’s original post.

In a post to her Instagram story, she said, “I did not ‘like’ this post on purpose or by accident. And more importantly, I want to be clear to my friends and anyone hurt by this showing up in their feeds – I do NOT support any form of antisemitism.”

She added, “I truly don’t tolerate HATE of any kind. Period.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, thanked Foxx for his apology and clarification on X, formerly known as Twitter. He also added, “Truly appreciate @iamjamiefoxx reaching out and confirming privately what he also said publicly. His message of love for the Jewish community is crucial in this time of rising hate. We are stronger together.”

Foxx recently returned to the public eye after he was hospitalized for a mysterious medical complication back in April. He has spent the months since recovering with the support of his family, whom he said “protected” him by keeping information about his health private.

“I want you to see me laughing, having a good time, partying, cracking a joke, doing a movie, television show. I didn’t want you to see me with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was gonna make it through,” the They Cloned Tyrone star said when he finally broke his silence.

Foxx teased that fans should expect to see more of him again now that he’s on the mend.