“It is unfortunate that at a time when anti-Semitism is so prevalent throughout the world that Seth MacFarlane used the pulpit of the Oscars, before an audience of more than a billion people to contribute to the myth that Jews own Hollywood. When Marlon Brando said that on the Larry King Show several years ago there was widespread criticism throughout Hollywood for those remarks for which Brando profusely apologized,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, Founder and Dean of the Wiesenthal Center.

Rabbi Hier continued: “But the Oscars are not Larry King. The Oscars are transmitted to every corner of the globe even to such places where such hateful myths are believed as fact. Every comedian is entitled to wide latitude, but no one should get a free pass for helping to promote anti-Semitism.”

Rabbi Hier is founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences™ and a two-time Academy Award™ winner.

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).