Oliver Stone has issued an apology for remarks he made in a Sunday Times of London interview in which he reportedly said that “Jewish domination of the media” was why there was such a focus on the Holocaust.
In a statement, Stone said, “In trying to make a broader historical point about the range of atrocities the Germans committed against many people, I made a clumsy association about the Holocaust, for which I am sorry and regret. Jews obviously do not control media or any other industry. The fact that the Holocaust is still a very important, vivid and current matter today is, in fact, a great credit to the very hard work of a broad coalition of people committed to the remembrance of this atrocity — and it was an atrocity.”
Stone reportedly had been asked by the paper why there had been such a focus on the Holocaust, and he replied, “The Jewish domination of the media. They stay on top of every comment, the most powerful lobby in Washington. Israel has f—– up United States foreign policy for years.”
He also said, “Hitler did far more damage to the Russians than the Jewish people, 25 or 30m.”
His comments drew immediate rebuke from Jewish organizations.
“By invoking this grotesque, toxic stereotype, Oliver Stone has outed himself as an anti-Semite,” said David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee. “For all of Stone’s progressive pretensions, his remark is no different from one of the drunken, Jew-hating rants of his fellow
Abraham H. Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said, “Oliver Stone has once again shown his conspiratorial colors with his comments about ‘Jewish domination of the media’ and control over
“The myth of Jewish control is an old stereotype that persists to this day. Stone uses it in a particularly egregious fashion by suggesting that Hitler has gotten an unfair shake because of Jewish influence.”
Stone is working on a miniseries for Showtime called “The Secret History of America.”
