Noah Schnapp Speaks Out After ‘Zionism Is Sexy’ Controversy: ‘My Thoughts and Beliefs Have Been so far Misconstrued’

January 16, 2024 @ 8:28 AM

Months after taking flak for his statements about the Israel-Hamas conflict, “Stranger Things” star Noah Schnapp clarified his position this week, saying he stands against “any killing of any innocent people.”

“I feel like my thoughts and beliefs have been so far misconstrued from anything even close to what I believe, and I wanted to just state from my heart how I feel,” Schnapp said on TikTok. “I only want peace and safety and security for all innocent people affected by this conflict.”

In mid-November of 2023 the “Bridge of Spies” and “Who Are You, Charlie Brown?” star landed in hot water after he posted a video of himself posing next to people brandishing stickers that read “Hamas is Isis” and “Zionism is sexy.” Schnapp quickly deleted the video, but that didn’t stop the backlash. The young actor has been called “disgusting” and was criticized by stars such as “Con Air” actor John Cusack as well as singer and former Fifth Harmony member Lauren Jauregi.

In his most recent TikTok, Schnapp noted that he’s had “many open conversations” with friends from Palestinian backgrounds.

“One of the takeaways I’ve had is that we all hope for the same things, which is that those innocent people still being held hostage in Gaza to be returned to their families and equally hope for an end of the loss of innocent life in Palestine,” Schnapp said. “I think anyone with any ounce of humanity would hope for an end to the hostility on both sides. I stand against any killing of any innocent people, and I hope you guys all do too.”

The actor then went on to say he hopes that “those two groups be able to live harmoniously together in that region.”

“I hope for 2024 online for people to be a little more understanding and compassionate and recognize that we’re all human regardless of our race, of our ethnicity, of our background, of our country of birth, of even our sexuality — of anything,” Schnapp concluded. “We are all human and we’re all the same. We should all love each other for that and support each other and stand together for humanity and for peace.”

So far, the post has been viewed over 2.1 million times and has over 210,000 likes and 15,000 favorites, a ratio that’s on par with Schnapp’s other posts. Comments on the post were disabled.