Sarah Silverman said Jon Stewart was right to claim that the goblins in the the “Harry Potter” series resembled an anti-Semitic caricature of Jews.
“I’ve never seen Harry Potter,” the 51-year-old comedian said while discussing Stewart’s comments on “The Sarah Silverman Podcast.” The post was noted by Mediaite in a piece published Friday. (RELATED: Report: J.K. Rowling To Appear In ‘Harry Potter’ Reunion Special Amid Backlash Against Author By Trans Activists)
Unlike Stewart ,who has since said he was just joking around and slammed headlines claiming he accused author J.K. Rowling of anti-Semitism, Silverman appeared to be serious. (RELATED: ‘Harry Potter’ Star Robbie Coltrane Defends J.K. Rowling Trans Comments, Slams ‘Twitter Generation’ Waiting ‘To Be Offended’)
It starts at the 3:08 minute mark.
WATCH:
“I couldn’t fucking believe it,” the comedian explained as she played a clip of the scene in “Harry Potter” when Harry and Hagrid go to Gringotts Bank to get his money.
“And oh my god,” she added. “Just a row of hook-nosed, propaganda Jews built for real life. “Everything you’ve seen in Nazi propaganda of the Juden pictures are brought to life in this wizarding world.”
“It’s the 20-year anniversary, and this is just coming up?” Silverman continued. “Nobody fucking cares. The hashtag ‘#jewsdon’tcount’ please read it. I mean, marone a mi. It’s so horrifyingly blatant. It’s like that thing where you just giggle but you’re uh, it’s mostly nervousness or fear. Holy fucking shit.”
Stewart called the anti-Semitism headlines “bonkers” in a video shared to his Twitter account. In the video clip, he said his comments about the characters’ depiction happened during a “light-hearted conversation amongst colleagues and chums having a larf, enjoying ourselves.”
Stewart said it was also about his impression of watching “Harry Potter” for the first time as a Jewish man and about how “Some tropes are so embedded in society that they’re basically invisible even in a considered process like movie making.”
WATCH:
Newsweek et al, may eat my ass. pic.twitter.com/eRoYYeNRi1
— Jon Stewart (@jonstewart) January 5, 2022
“Hello, my name is Jon Stewart,” he said in the clip. “I do not think J.K. Rowling is anti-Semitic. I did not accuse her of being anti-Semitic. I do not think that the ‘Harry Potter’ movies are anti-Semitic. I really love the ‘Harry Potter’ movies, probably too much for a gentlemen of my considerable age.”
“I don’t want the ‘Harry Potter’ movies censored in any way,” Stewart added. “Get a fucking grip.”
Stewart’s original comments about the Gringotts Bank goblins in the popular movies were made during a December episode of his podcast, “The Problem With Jon Stewart.” It can be seen here.