Netflix has come under fire for an image of its new documentary on Bernie Madoff that portrays the late Wall Street fraudster with horns and pointed ears, an antisemitic trope with origins that date at least to the Middle Ages.
The streaming giant advertised its new show, titled “Bernie Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street,” with a picture of the horned Ponzi swindler against a red background representing hell – pointing to a centuries-old notion of Jews as the devil, or Satanic beings.
Allison Josephs, the founder and CEO of Jewish advocacy group Jew in the City, denounced Netflix in a tweet, writing, “Madoff is a bonafide villain, but it is NOT ok to put horns on a Jew. Jews as horned devils is pre-medieval trope.”
Josephs noted that her group, which tackles the perception of Orthodox Jews and Orthodox Judaism, recently held an “encouraging” meeting with Netflix executives to discuss the company’s portrayal of Orthodox Jews.
Netflix has been criticized for its obsession with shows that portray Orthodox Jews in a negative light, including its hit reality series “My Unorthodox Life” and a 2017 documentary called “One of Us” that follows the lives of ex-hasidic Jews.
