Jewish leaders’ fury as Clementine Ford is handed $30,000 in taxpayer funds after ‘anti-Semitism’ podcast controversy
Jewish leaders are demanding that the state government explain why feminist author Clementine Ford was awarded more than $30,000 in public funds after she bragged that her podcast was canceled over alleged anti-Semitism.
Government agency Screen NSW will provide $31,387 to Ford, 43, and production house Aquarius Films to fund their ‘dark comedy’ called Smile B**th under its development programme.
The film is about a ‘high-profile media presenter who becomes too interested in murder after one sexist micro-aggression’.
The funding revelation follows the Nova Entertainment network’s cancellation of Ford’s podcast “Dear Clementine” after a two-year run, which the host said was due to her strongly expressed views on Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza .
Jewish leaders are questioning why feminist author Clementine Ford (pictured) received funding for her TV project
“But all good things must come to an end – especially award-winning podcasts hosted by women with strong opinions on genocide,” Ford wrote on her Instagram on December 19.
Ford has posted numerous posts on Instagram speaking out against “Zionist” supporters of Israel.
“The white supremacist system that upholds Zionism expects women like me – white, middle class, and a beneficiary of that system – to throw my support behind it,” she wrote.
‘Condoning a genocide by remaining silent or actively defending it.’
A spokesperson for Nova did not provide a specific reason for ending the podcast.
“The Nova Podcasts team is constantly reviewing our slate of titles, which may lead to the end of some shows,” they said.
“I can confirm that ‘Dear Clementine’ is one of the podcasts that will not be renewed in 2024.”
Ford has expressed her strong views on the fighting between Israel and Hamas on Instagram
The reports have prompted Robert Gregory, head of the Australian Jewish Association, to call on the NSW government to halt the proposed film.
“We are shocked by the news that Screen NSW has given such a divisive figure as Ford a grant for a TV series,” he said. The Australian.
‘Do they have complete contempt for Jewish women? Would they give subsidies to someone who targeted members of another minority group in this way?
‘NSW taxpayers will rightly be concerned about the use of their tax money to subsidize a TV series for someone who stirs up hatred. The subsidy should be withdrawn. NSW Arts Minister John Graham should explain this decision.”
Ford has denied being “anti-Semitic.”
“Every day the depravity of those who continue to support Israel increases,” she wrote to her 250,000 Instagram followers.
‘I am not intimidated by Zionist accusations that I am anti-Semitic. I know who and what I am. I am one who will not remain silent when a nation of people is wiped out by a colonizing force.”
She also accused media organizations of being complicit in Israel’s actions.
“To the so-called journalists in this country who are either silent about this genocide or actively supporting it: you dishonor the fourth estate and everything it stands for,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Shame on you all.”
Last year, Ford announced that she will be directing a new podcast titled “Untethered.”
She wrote on Instagram that it will be aimed at “the free-thinking woman who knows who she is and isn’t afraid to say it” and will start streaming in January.
Ford claimed her podcast was canceled because she condemned “genocide” in the Middle East
She ended her post with a defiant message to her critics: “A reminder… you can try your hardest to destroy me, but you will never win… I will always be ‘untethered.’
Mr Graham told The Australian he understood people have “strong feelings” about the situation in Gaza and that the government’s role was to focus on “community cohesion” and “ensuring our communities feel safe”.
“There will be no tolerance for hate speech or defamation,” he said.
A spokesperson for Screen NSW said development funding was awarded to NSW-based production companies to develop screen projects that are the product of co-creators.
The spokesperson said Screen NSW ‘respects the autonomy of independent organizations to work with screen creatives to develop content’.