Michael Rapaport denounces cancel culture, pro-Palestinian protests ahead of Chicago comedy show

Ahead of his scheduled comedy show at the Vic Theater in Chicago Friday night that drew protests from pro-Palestinian activists, veteran actor and comedian Michael Rapaport denounced cancel culture and the protests as he prepared for his Chicago show.

Rapaport, who is Jewish, is a staunch supporter of Israel and the country's military effort in its war with Hamas and has attracted criticism from activists over some of his social media posts regarding the conflict.

The war broke out following a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which left approximately 1,200 people, primarily civilians, dead, while approximately 250 people were taken hostage.

According to outgoing Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, 101 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza.

In the 13 months of fighting since, more than 43,500 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

“If it was someone’s thoughts, ideas, sexuality, this would be unacceptable,” Rapaport said to NBC Chicago's Charlie Wojciechowski outside his hotel. “But because this is Jewish, veiled in Zionist, it's somehow palatable in 2024 and I will not back down,” Rapaport said in an interview ahead of the show.

Rapaport's previous Chicago-area shows, which were slated to be held at the Comedy Vault in Batavia in June, were cancelled over security concerns.

Hatem Abudayyeh of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network called Rapaport a racist, and said the group has been sending messages and making phone calls to the Vic Theater and Jam Productions in an effort to cancel the show.

“Chicago has the largest Palestinian population in the U.S., and it is a slap in the face to our community and all those in our city who stand for justice to host an ‘artist’ who wholeheartedly supports the mass murder of Palestinian families,” Rania Salem, a member of the USPCN said in a statement announcing the protest.

Rapaport's Chicago show was spurred by the previous Batavia cancellation, which led area residents Danny Schwartz, Natan Ostro and Josh Weiner to begin the Chicago Jewish Alliance.

"Jewry was kind of being silenced from the zeitgeist here in Chicago, so we were kind of birthed as an organization to continue having Jewish events here in the city," Schwartz told NBC Chicago.

The show comes one day after Israeli soccer fans were attacked in Amsterdam in clashes following a match involving Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“The last 24 hours, what happened in Amsterdam, was an historic, atrocious, horrible event,” Rapaport said. “It was an attack on Jews for being Jewish, period.”

Both the Dutch and Israeli governments, as well as governments across Europe, condemned the attacks as antisemitic.

Five people were treated at hospitals and dozens were arrested after the attacks, which come as reports of antisemitic speech, vandalism and violence have been on the rise in Europe since the start of the war in Gaza, and tensions mounted in Amsterdam ahead of Thursday night’s match between the Dutch team Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators were banned by local authorities from gathering outside the stadium, and video showed a large crowd of Israeli fans chanting anti-Arab slogans on their way to the game. Afterward, youths on scooters and on foot crisscrossed the city in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them and then fleeing quickly to evade police, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said.

Rapaport said his show in Chicago will go on, undeterred by protesters.

"I am not accepting, I am not down with, I don't prohibit, nor will I step backwards with regard to me being cancelled for being Jewish or anyone else being cancelled for being Jewish, or any other reason," Rapaport said.

Rappaport said his Chicago show will go on. “I am not accepting; I am not down with; I don’t prohibit, nor will I step backwards with regard to me being cancelled for being Jewish or anyone else being cancelled for being Jewish or any other reason,” he said.