UPDATE: Asif Kapadia has apologized after the Grierson Trust rescinded the patronage conferred on the Oscar- and BAFTA-winning British filmmaker over social media posts they have deemed antisemitic.
The “Amy” and “Senna” director had just been appointed a patron of the charity, which celebrates the best of documentary and factual filmmaking, on Wednesday alongside Dorothy Byrne and Louis Theroux.
“Since the Grierson Trust announced that Asif Kapadia had been appointed as one of our patrons, some social media posts shared by him have been drawn to our attention which are antisemitic,” the Trust said in a statement to Variety. “As a result, at an 8 a.m. board meeting this morning, we took the decision to rescind his role as patron of the Trust.”
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The Trust added, “When we made the decision to appoint Mr. Kapadia, the board was not aware of these posts, some of which appear to be no longer available, and we are sorry that our due diligence was not thorough enough. The Grierson Trust is deeply committed to promoting both freedom of speech and diversity and inclusion in the documentary industry. Whilst we accept and support that everyone has a legitimate right to express their views on controversial issues, this cannot justify racist statements or behavior. As we have stressed in the past and will continue to uphold, the Trust has a zero tolerance approach to racism of all kinds.”
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In a statement provided to Variety, Kapadia expressed his sadness at how his retweets had been interpreted and unequivocally apologized.
“I’m mortified by the hurt and offence that some of my retweets have caused. I now understand that they will be seen by many as antisemitic, or in the case of one even justifying violence. That was not my intention,” he said.
“Like many I feel passionate about the fate of the Palestinian & Lebanese people and the suffering they have endured over the years, but I am equally passionate about all anti-racism and condemn all forms of antisemitism. I unequivocally apologise for these ill-judged reposts which were posted in haste with a lack of due consideration.”
Kapadia has since deleted his X account, but screenshots that have been captured show he retweeted a cartoon featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu salivating as he feasts on what appears to be human flesh, with bones and an eyeball sticking out on the plate while a dead baby lies on a blood-spattered table in front him as well as an image from “Schindler’s List” showing Nazi Amon Goeth (played by Ralph Fiennes) shooting prisoners inside a concentration camp captioned “Do you remember this scene from Schindler’s List? The same thing is happening in real time. They are Nazis.”
He also tweeted, “2023: hypocrisy & racism within the West at every single level of society, politics, media, arts, education, sports, on a global scale is something to behold. To all complicit in Israeli fascism 2024 massive year of elections what will you say when fascists come for you & yours?”
Producer Neil Grant told the Jewish News he was “aghast” by Kapadia’s appointment, given “the enormous offense and insensitivity the appointment Asif Kapadia has now caused within the Jewish community and from amongst Jewish colleagues.”
”This isn’t a debate about the pros and cons of the current Middle East conflict, this is about calling out unequivocally anti-Jewish hatred,” he said. “We cannot remain quiet given the level of antisemitism we are daily confronting.”
Leo Pearlman, managing director at Fulwell 73, was among those to publicly condemn Kapadia’s appointment before it was rescinded. “In the competitive sport of antisemitic bingo, Asif Kapadia has been shouting ‘full gas chamber’ for months,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Last November, the Trust launched an investigation after an antisemitic incident was reported at its documentary awards when an individual aggressively approached multiple Jewish attendees and berated them about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Following the conclusion of the investigation, the individual was banned from attending the awards for a decade.
