David Schwimmer is no stranger to using his voice. Whether as Ross Geller in “Friends,” the bumbling paleontologist navigating love, or as a vocal advocate for the Jewish community, Schwimmer knows when to speak up. And at the Anti-Defamation League’s “Never Is Now” summit this week, he had one clear message: more Jewish celebrities need to do the same.
“I wish you would stand up. I wish you would speak out,” Schwimmer told the audience at the event in New York. “Your voice would be so meaningful to your fans who love you, to your community members who need you, to folks who could use just a little solidarity right now from people they respect and look up to.”
Schwimmer, who has never shied away from calling out antisemitism, made it clear that silence is not an option. He pointed to the rising normalization of hate speech, the attacks on Jewish-owned businesses and the threats Jewish students face on campuses. He even joked about how easy it could be to start small: “Post your bar mitzvah picture. We’ll start a trend of embarrassing haircuts and dental work.”
But while humor softened the edges of his speech, the message was serious. Schwimmer acknowledged that speaking out comes at a cost—he’s lost friends and been the target of threats. Still, he believes staying silent is the greater risk. He invoked Elie Wiesel’s famous words: “The opposite of love is not hate. It’s indifference.”
Schwimmer has long used his platform to address antisemitism, from appearing in the 2022 documentary “Jews Don’t Count” to publicly calling for Ye (formerly Kanye West) to be banned from social media after a series of antisemitic rants. At the ADL summit, he made it clear that his advocacy isn’t about politics—it’s about taking a stand against hate.
“No one’s asking you to solve the conflict in the Middle East,” he said. “Just say that you stand with your Jewish friends, colleagues and neighbors against hatred and discrimination.”
Before leaving the stage, Schwimmer made one final push for solidarity: “Now is not the time to disappear. Now is the time to show up.”
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