If I was a PR person responsible for giving a Hollywood celebrity career advice, I would tell them to stay off of podcasts.
While television talk shows are designed to suck every bit of spontaneity out of the interview, most podcasts are much more casual. And while that makes for a much better listening experience, it can also lead to situations where celebrities let their guard down and say things they should probably only say with their internal voice.
The latest example comes from actress Julianna Margulies, who appeared on the November 21st episode of The Back Room With Andy Ostroy to talk about her role on The Morning Show.
She discussed the show, but she pretty quickly began talking about rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S. She pointed to then-President Donald Trump's comments following the 2017 neo-Nazi protests in Charlottesville, Virginia.
She then went on to discuss the rise of anti-Israeli comments following the October 7th attack and she expressed her exasperation with the lack of support of Israel by Black and LGBTQ people.
“I’m the first person to march for Black Lives Matter. When that happened to George Floyd, I put a black screen on my Instagram, like I ran to support my Black brothers and sisters. When LGBTQ people are being attacked, I run. I made a commercial for same-sex marriages with my husband in 2012. Like, I am the first person to jump up when something is wrong, as I think most Jews are, because we have been persecuted from the beginning of time, not just World War II, but literally from the beginning of time when we first lived in Israel way before anybody else."
In retrospect, she probably should have wrapped up her comments there. Unfortunately, she did not.
“It’s those kids [who use pronouns] who are spewing this anti-Semitic hate that have no idea if they stepped foot in an Islamic country. These people who want us to call them they/them or whatever they want us to call them — which I have respectfully really made a point of doing, like, be whoever you want to be. It’s those people that will be the first people beheaded and their heads played [like] a soccer ball. Terrorists who don’t want women to have their rights, don’t want LGBTQ people…this is who you’re supporting?"
