New York actress Debra Messing is facing backlash online after sharing Instagram Stories that some viewers considered Islamophobic.
The backlash began after Messing shared two Instagram Stories that drew criticism. The first featured a picture of Ana Kasparian, Hasan Piker, Cenk Uygur, Hasan Minhaj, and Mehdi Hasan, with a strip of duct tape covering each of their mouths; you can view it in a Reddit post here.
Written over the picture was, “Muslim media elites silent after Turkey’s takedown of LGBT. No jews, no news. Hundreds arrested for being gay.” However, the post’s premise did not accurately reflect the religious backgrounds of everyone depicted. Ana Kasparian, Cenk Uygur, and Hasan Piker are non-religious atheists or agnostics, with Uygur and Piker identifying as culturally Muslim. Mehdi Hasan and Hasan Minhaj are the only practicing Muslims among the five.
The photo shared by Messing was labeled Islamophobic by some people online. Another Instagram Story drew even stronger criticism and was described as Islamophobic as well. It included the following text: “A Black woman in Detroit was assaulted, threatened, called [racial slur], and robbed my multiple Arab Muslim men in what has become a viral event, and not one imam, Muslim community leader, or @CAIRNational official has said one word. Why? Because Black people are ‘abeds’ to them and abusing them is Islam’s birthright. I’ve said for years, this is what the Islamization of America means for my community. This is going to get very ugly…”
Critics argued that the two posts were Islamophobic because they connected the actions of specific people to broader claims about Muslims and Islam. They took issue with the first post for grouping several commentators together as “Muslim media elites” despite differences in their religious identities. The second post was criticized for linking an alleged incident involving several Arab Muslim men to Islam and warning about the “Islamization of America.” According to critics, this framing painted Muslims as a collective rather than distinguishing between individuals and the wider community.
A Reddit post echoed the criticism of Messing, sharing screenshots of the Instagram Stories she had posted. The post’s title read, “Zionist actress Debra Messing posts islamophobic story about Muslim commentators and another implying that all Muslims are racist.”
Fans Slam New York Actress Debra Messing Over Controversial Instagram Stories
Fans quickly criticized New York actress Debra Messing over the Instagram Stories, with many describing the posts as Islamophobic. “Jesus Christ she is insufferable,” one person wrote. Another person said, “nothing makes people so aggressively performative about LGBT+ rights except when it comes for Muslims. Like yes it’s bad but it’s hilarious especially when real right wingers (not Messing, know she’s a Zionist ‘centrist’) suddenly become massive allies because their racism and Islamophobia supersedes their hatred of gay people for a hot second.”
More people continued criticizing the actress, with one person saying, “It’s really insane to witness the downfall of Debra Messing.. who knew she would turn out to be such a bigot.” Another person said, “This is what Zionism does to a person. She truly is a vile Hasbara propagandist, a vile human being.”
Messing’s posts also raised questions about the responsibility that comes with having a large public platform. This is particularly true when sharing content about religious or ethnic communities. The criticism focused on concerns that celebrity statements can contribute to harmful stereotypes. This is especially true when they generalize about groups of people.
