Alicia Keys is slammed for ‘sick ode to Hamas terror attacks on Israel’ after asking fans if she should take up PARAGLIDING – before quickly deleting post and claiming it was ‘COMPLETELY unrelated’ to brutal war
Alicia Keys was at the center of controversy Monday after an anti-Semitism advocacy group criticized her social media post, saying she was using coded messages to signal her support for Hamas amid its war with Israel.
The 42-year-old singer originally posted a photo on Instagram of herself wearing a green leather racing jacket with black and white detailing, in colors that some say resemble the black, white, green and red of the Palestinian flag.
The Manhattan native, whose real name is Alicia Augello Cook, captioned the post: ‘Question: What would you do if you weren’t afraid of anything??? Tell me the truth… I had my eye on paragliding,” adding two sets of eye emojis.
The Girl on Fire singer, who has more than 27.1 million followers on the social media platform, later deleted the post.
The Empire State of Mind singer’s post caught the attention of an advocacy group StopAntisemitismwho questioned whether Keyes was subtly referring to the paragliders used by Hamas in the October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war.
The latest: Alicia Keys, 42, was at the unlikely center of controversy on Monday after an anti-Semitism advocacy group criticized her social media post, saying she was using coded messages to signal her support for Hamas amid its war with Israel
The Grammy-winning artist responded to the controversy Monday night in an Instagram Stories post, denying any connection between the paragliding post and the current events comments
“In a now-deleted tweet, Alicia Keys shares an IG post about trying paragliding if she wasn’t afraid,” a tweet from StopAntisemitism read. ‘Is this some sick ode to the Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel, killed over 1300 people, beheaded babies, raped women and kidnapped Holocaust survivors @aliciakeis?’
The Grammy-winning artist responded to the controversy Monday night in an Instagram post, denying any connection between the paragliding post and the current events comments.
“The post I shared earlier is COMPLETELY unrelated to the recent devastating loss of innocent life,” she said. ‘My heart breaks… I pray and plead for peace.’
Famous music manager Guy Oziri, who was born in Israel, took to Instagram to defend the character of singer Fallin.
“Talking about an anti-Semitic post my dear friend Alicia Keys posted on her Instagram,” Oseari wrote. “I can confirm to anyone in my community (Star of David emoji) who needs to hear it: It is NOT true.”
He continued, regarding the use of the word paragliding, ‘There was a specific word in her post that our community at this very painful time found very triggering, but it was absolutely not connected in any way.’
Oseari added: “I spoke to Alicia and she was horrified when she found out what the word implied and immediately took it off. Alicia has always been a fighter for all human rights.
“I’ve had a front row seat for over a decade and see her positive impact in the world.” Her humanitarian work reflects her empathy and her heart.’
Advocacy group StopAntisemitism, which questioned whether Keys was making a subtle reference to the paragliders used by Hamas in its attack on Israel on October 7, which sparked the war. Hamas was seen training with paragliders in the weeks before the attack
Famous music manager Guy Oziri, who was born in Israel, took to Instagram to defend the character of the Fallin’ singer
In response to a post from StopAntisemitism, some users believed that Keys intended to signal her support for anti-Israel efforts with the combination of words and images in her initial post
Some said the colors on the jacket Kis wore were meant to be similar to that of the Palestinian flag. A protester was seen holding the flag last week in Rome
Some users said the advocacy group was reaching out in its suggestion that Keys was subtly signaling support for Hamas’s attacks on Israel, which began on 7
Podcaster Sarah Foster expressed skepticism at Oseario’s defense of Keys, writing, “Crazy. What a coincidence.’
Comedian Elon Gold responded to Oseario: “She has to prove it to herself.” She must speak out against Hamas after appearing to wink at them. I’m sure her heart is fine. But she cannot remain silent after this slaughter, mass rape, beheading of babies…’
Podcaster Jordana Horn Gordon responded to Oseario that Keys “should put up a post correcting” the original post, adding, “it came out very, very different from what you’re saying.”
Horne Gordon added: “Respect: Just being deleted in the era of screenshots is not an apology, nor is a Jewish friend stepping up on your behalf.”
In response to StopAntisemitism’s post, some users believed Keys intended to signal her support for anti-Israel efforts with the combination of words and images in her initial post.
One user said: “…the colors of her jackets. Too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence.
Another said: ‘Look at the colors she’s wearing, the paragliding reference, even with the eyeball emoji… she knew EXACTLY what she was doing.’
One user said of her outfit: I see people saying this is a stretch, let Alicia be the one to answer. But this @StopAntisemites account highlighted her outfit. Colors have meaning, last (Thursday) I wore blue and white for a reason. Sometimes people choose clothes to send (subtle) messages. Let’s wait.’
Other users said the advocacy group was reaching out in its suggestion that Keyes was subtly signaling support for Hamas’ attacks on Israel, which began on October 7.
“Remove this, it’s not wrong to use the word paragliding,” said one user, while another said that while they supported Stop Antisemitism and its efforts, “This is going a little too far.”
Another user pointed out unspecified geographic elements, noting that Keys’ home in Southern California is near Torrey Pines Ski Resort, a center for recreational paragliding.
“To be fair, her house in San Diego is next to a glider port in La Jolla (it’s public knowledge), and she sees paragliders every day,” the user said. “Maybe he doesn’t mean Hamas.”
Keys’ announcement came on the 10th day of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, which has killed more than 4,000 people and displaced more than a million people from their homes in the Gaza Strip.