The Tribeca Festival has condemned the jokes made on the red carpet of “The Wedding Entertainer (The Tale of Moishe Badhan)” by comedian Elon Gold and influencer Lizzy Savetsky about the rape of Palestinians, calling them “offensive and unacceptable.”
In a clip that was widely shared on social media, drawing outrage, Gold noted that the “The Wedding Entertainer” was filmed in Israel. “I was only raped by two Israeli dogs,” Gold tells Savetsky in the footage, who replies, “I thought they only raped Palestinians.”
In a statement, the festival said: “Sexual violence and human suffering should never be mocked or minimized. The comments do not reflect the Tribeca Festival’s values, and we regret the hurt and offense they have caused.”
The festival added that it had not been able to reach the filmmakers. A spokesperson for the film did not immediately respond to a request to comment for this article.
Gold stars in “The Wedding Entertainer (The Tale of Moishe Badhan).” It’s the story of a down-on-his-luck Hasidic Jewish comedian who must secure one last gig to raise the $20,000 required to marry his daughter. Gidi Dar directed and co-wrote the film.
The Tribeca Festival is in its 25th year. It was founded in the wake of 9/11 as a way to bring people back to lower Manhattan, but has since grown and expanded to have events in all of the city’s boroughs. This year’s festival kicked off on Wednesday with the premiere of “Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs That’s the Weight of the World),” a new documentary from Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
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