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| Kim Kamal |
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| Isabel Pereira |
Two contestants were kicked off a Swedish reality show after having a conversation in which one said she hates Jews, while a third who remains has previously expressed support for neo-Nazi ideas on social media. The comments, made during a live airing of the popular show “Big Brother,” drew a swift response from the network airing the show, as well as wide media coverage in Sweden.
Jewish community leaders also responded with concern, noting a rise in antisemitism across the Scandinavian country. […]
On Thursday, Kim Kamal, 21, could be heard complaining to fellow contestant Isabel Pereira, 24, about his former boss. Then he said, “She was a Jew, so I get it.”
“I hate Jews,” Pereira responded with a laugh.
Pereira was asked to leave the show shortly after she made the comments, while Kamal was told to do so the following day. Pereira later apologized for the comments in an Instagram post.
The fact that three out of the 13 participants of the popular reality TV show’s contestants this year have been involved in controversies around antisemitism prompted a leading Swedish columnist to ask whether attacking Jews has become a fashionable way to “stir the pot.”
Kristofer Ahlström, a columnist in Dagens Nyheter, one of Sweden’s biggest newspapers, said that in the 1990s, Swedish TV shows would bring on certain types of opinionated people, such as “a loudmouthed feminist” or “a vegan,” in order to create controversial conversations that would draw viewers.
Source: Times of Israel
