“It’s never fun getting death threats”: Celebrity chef Eitan Bernath opens up about fighting antisemitism
Eitan Bernath, the award-winning celebrity chef, entertainer, author, television personality, and content creator, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where he spoke about using his platform to fight antisemitism.
This podcast can be listened to here, or watched here.
“I haven’t always, on my platform, been as loud about combatting antisemitism,” he said. “Now, to be fair, I was a teenager! So, I also wasn’t as knowledgeable. I was still in high school and figuring out life and gaining confidence, but as I’ve grown into myself as a young adult, this is something that’s very important to me.”
The 21-year-old continued: “The way I see it with combating antisemitism and standing up for the Jewish people, I will be Jewish until the day I die and antisemitism will affect me until the day I die, and it will affect my children and grandchildren, and so on.”
The TikTok star revealed that speaking up about antisemitism has, unfortunately, come at a price. However, he says that it “comes with the territory.”
“Most times when I post, whether it’s about Holocaust education, or about combatting antisemitism, I lose many, many thousands of followers, and get thousands and thousands of hateful messages. I have grown a very thick skin.”
Asked whether the backlash to his activism affects him, he said: “I am 100% of the time okay with the ramifications that come with me posting on social media in support of my fellow Jews and combating antisemitism because that hate exists out there, and when I receive that, it’s not something I take personally.
“It’s a large, systemic issue that is perpetrated by all sorts of things, whether its media, whether its fictional stories that portray Jews negatively.”
Mr Bernath revealed that at times, he has received hateful messages to the point of death threats.
“It’s never fun getting messages or getting death threats for various things I’ve posted about. Very scary, awful messages and comments aren’t enjoyable at all and it’s sad that it exists out there, but I believe the positive effects of advocating severely outweigh any negative effects it has,” he said.
Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.
Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.
