Mayim Bialik, Sharon Osbourne, Gene Simmons and Craig David help launch alliance between Jewish and black celebrities to combat hate in entertainment

170 celebrities from the Jewish and black communities have come together to form an alliance against antisemitism and anti-black racism in the entertainment industry.

The “unity statement” includes other household names, as well as leading producers and other figures, such as Jason Alexander, Nick Cannon (who was recently embroiled in controversy over antisemitism before publicly making amends), Jeremy Piven, Antoine Fuqua, Ethiopia Habtemariam, Neil Blair, Ozwald Boateng and the late Larry King.

The statement reads: “We acknowledge that the Black and Jewish communities have a shared history of subjugation and persecution. We recognise that the Black community in America has faced a history of racism that continues to this day, while the Jewish community is currently encountering record levels of antisemitism, which affects both group’s sense of fear, vulnerability, and self-worth. As members of the entertainment community, we stand against all forms of hate, and pledge to work to bring our two communities together in solidarity, to support one another in our struggles, and to better understand each other’s plight and narratives.

“The Jewish community must continue to speak out against racial injustice and work to effect change, while the Black community must continue to speak out against all forms of antisemitism. In the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., Rabbi Abraham Heschel, and the many Blacks and Jews who stood together in the fight for civil rights, we come together to support each other in the struggle against hatred and bigotry. In the words of the late John Lewis, ‘We are one people, one family, the human family, and what affects one of us affects us all.’”

Last year, hundreds of musicians and other music industry figures signed a letter condemning antisemitism and racism in the wake of the grime artist Wiley’s antisemitic tirade.