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"I don’t want the Harry Potter movies censored in any way."
Jon Stewart is clarifying his comments about the Harry Potter franchise — which he definitely doesn't think is antisemitic.
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In a recent episode of his podcast, The Problem With Jon Stewart, the host had a "lighthearted" conversation about the series, which he said was taken out of context by the media.
During the discussion, Jon compared the depiction of the goblins who run Gringotts Bank to antisemitic illustrations featured in the 1903 book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
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"That’s a caricature of a Jew from an antisemitic piece of literature... J.K. Rowling was like, 'Can we get these guys to run our bank?' ... It was one of those things where I saw it on the screen, and I was expecting the crowd to be like, ‘Holy shit, [Rowling] did not, in a wizarding world, just throw Jews in there to run the fucking underground bank," Jon said.
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After his comments were widely published, Jon took to Twitter to clear things up and condemn outlets who took his message out of context.
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He explained that the conversation was more about his experience watching the films for the first time as a Jewish man and "how some tropes are so embedded in society that they’re basically invisible."
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"I do not think J.K. Rowling is antisemitic. I did not accuse her of being antisemitic. I do not think the Harry Potter movies are antisemitic. I really love the Harry Potter movies, probably too much for a gentleman of my considerable age," Jon said in the video.
Warner Bros / ©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
He later added, "I cannot stress this enough. I am not accusing J.K. Rowling of being antisemitic. She need not answer to any of it. I don’t want the Harry Potter movies censored in any way. It was a lighthearted conversation. Get a fucking grip."
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