Michael Rapaport faced backlash this week after posting a digitally altered image of a Holocaust victim in a concentration camp, prompting him to issue a public apology and clarify his intentions on Thursday (July 10).
The actor addressed the controversy on Twitter (X) after sharing what he believed was an authentic photo of a concentration camp prisoner. Rapaport, who has frequently used his platform to highlight Holocaust history, admitted the particular post drew more attention than any of his previous efforts.
“The Holocaust is a stain on humanity,” he wrote. “Today there is a historic rise in antisemitism that has not been seen since the 1930’s globally. I have shared hundreds of stories and images about concentration camps on my social medias because we must never forget the atrocities committed. None of those posts got the attention that this one did.
“I apologize to any Jewish people that I have offended me by posting an image that I believed to be real. It could have been real but in this artificial world we live in, it turned out not to be. October 7th, 2023 changed me and millions of other people for better or worse. I’m not going to stop speaking out for the Jewish people and you’re welcome to run any stories you want about it. What I did and do is for all the right reasons.”
The image, which depicted a person playing a violin at Auschwitz, was later revealed to be generated by artificial intelligence.
The Auschwitz Memorial and Museum in Poland criticized Rapaport for circulating the misleading image, calling attention to the dangers of spreading inaccurate representations of historical atrocities. The museum didn’t hold back in its response, stating the image was “a fake photo generated by artificial intelligence.”
Beyond his acting and social media presence, Rapaport—a longtime Hip-Hop fanatic—directed the 2011 documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, which chronicled the rise and internal struggles of the legendary Hip-Hop group.