Following days of backlash against a controversial social-media posting, comedian Chelsea Handler deleted a video that she had shared on her Instagram page that she called “powerful,” featuring National of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has an extensive history of making anti-Jewish remarks.
In the past, some of them have included “I’m anti-termite,” referring to Jews as pests, and that Adolf Hitler was “a very great man.”
The video shows Farrakhan taking questions from the audience during an appearance in 1990 on “The Phil Donahue Show.”
“I learned a lot from watching this powerful video,” wrote Handler on her Instagram page, which has 3.9 million followers.
Despite Farrakhan’s anti-Semitic and other bigoted remarks, Handler defended the criticism she received, countering that “Hitler was responsible for killing millions of lives. Farrakhan is just responsible for his own promotion of anti-Semitic beliefs. They are very different.”
Fellow celebrities, including actresses Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Aniston and Michelle Pfeiffer, liked the video, while other personalities, such as actress Lisa Rinna and actor Sean Hayes, praised the clip in the comments section on Handler’s post.
