The Anti-Defamation League accused the CBS network of “facilitating” anti-Semitism for comments made on a reality television show. “Big Brother” features strangers living together in a house, with an Internet feed providing live, round-the-clock coverage of their conversations. In one conversation posted last week, a resident named Amber said the majority of Jews she knows are “selfish.” Amber also said that one can tell who is Jewish based on “their last name” and “by their nose.”
In a statement to the entertainment Web site TMZ, ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said the network was “giving license” to expressions of anti-Semitism. “I want CBS to understand they are facilitating anti-Semitism,” Foxman said. “They should act responsibly to the community; they are legitimizing bigoted conversation.” CBS responded that it did not condone the statements and said they would not be part of any future broadcast.
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