Over the past few years, TV viewers have learned their lesson about placing sitcom stars on pedestals (i.e., Debra Messing, Roseanne Barr, Zachary Levi, just to name a few). Another person to add to that list is Michael Rapaport, an actor known for roles in projects like The War at Home and Atypical and in films like Cop Land and The Heat. Rapaport is one of the contestants cast in season 4 of Peacock's hit reality show hosted by Alan Cumming, The Traitors.
Soon after Rapaport's casting was announced, social media was set ablaze with Traitors fans sharing their disappointment with the decision to cast someone dubbed "racist" and a Zionist because of his political views, with calls for immediate banishment from Cumming's castle. Some forecast that he was likely to spell trouble on the new season of The Traitors. And the ruckus arising from initial episodes — including an unfounded feud with fellow contestant Yam Yam Arocho — seems to prove their point.
The actor has been enveloped in controversy as far back as 1997, when he was arrested for and pleaded guilty to harassing his ex-girlfriend, Six Feet Under star Lili Taylor, leading the judge to issue a protection order for Taylor.
In 2021, Rapaport publicly feuded with NBA player Kevin Durant, leading to Rapaport sharing screen shots of private messages that showed Durant using homophobic and misogynistic language. But the exchange also showed the actor repeatedly telling Durant, who is Black, “Go help the kids in BROWNSVILLE, BROOKLYN," a predominantly Black neighborhood. (Durant was fined by the NBA for the messages and later issued an apology.)
Fast forward to 2023, when Rapaport began loudly sharing controversial views in response to the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. In November of that year, amid calls for a ceasefire, the Jewish actor ranted on social media that if the hostages that were taken by Hamas during the attacks were Black, then there would be no such activism.
"Yo, if 20 American tourists, forget the 1,200 people that were murdered, slaughtered, civilians, if 20 American civilians, all African American, all Black, all ages were taken hostage, and 10 of them were murdered and raped, and there was 10 surviving American tourist hostages that were all Black, there’s not one motherfucker in this country that would be talking about ceasefire," Rapaport said in the video. "It would be ‘Bring the fucking hostages back, and they better be, they better be alive! They better be pristine.’ There wouldn’t be no ceasefire, there wouldn’t be no — can you imagine college students ripping down posters of 10 Black people from America if they were taken hostage and 10 of them were raped and murdered?”
Rapaport went on to advocate that Jewish people should proudly reclaim "Zionist" and said, "Zionism is our connection to Israel, to our history, and to our future." Zionist, which refers to a supporter of the Jewish homeland, is increasingly used as a pejorative label amid the escalating Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
On social media, Rapaport has continued to make disparaging remarks about Palestine. "The Erotic Sick Dream of a Free Palestine whatever the fook that means ain’t happening ever," he titled one video last year as the region faced famine amid attacks by Israel.
Rapaport has also been a vocal critic of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In fact, Rapaport announced this week he'd be running against him in the 2029 election. In the Instagram Reel, he referred to Mamdani as a "shit stain at the helm." The actor claims that the city's first Muslim mayor is unfit to serve and says he does not agree with the mayor's stance on the Gaza war.
“We have a shit stain at the helm right now in New York City, and it is a reality. It is a fucking reality," he said. "I think he’s going to supersede our wildest fears and expectations. Zohran the Zero, Zohran the Ziophobe, he is going to supersede all our fears and expectations.”
As Rapaport continues to post divisive Reels on Instagram and now cause issues with his cast mates on The Traitors, it's worth revisiting this particular profanity-laden video the actor recorded on cancel culture:
