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Jewish fans slam the trailer for Netflix’s Leonard Bernstein biopic ‘Maestro,’ which shows Bradley Cooper with an elongated nose
(JTA) — Soon after Netflix dropped the first official trailer for its upcoming Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro” on Tuesday, one aspect of the film footage sparked a flurry of conversation online — and it wasn’t the preeminent Jewish conductor’s music, or star Bradley Cooper’s acting.
Instead, the prosthetic nose supposedly used by the Oscar-nominated Cooper, who is not Jewish — and co-wrote, directed and stars as Bernstein in the film — infuriated many Jews who argued that the appendage plays into stereotypes about Jewish facial features.
Joel Swanson, a Jewish history PhD student at the University of Chicago, shared side-by-side images of Cooper’s character and the composer, writing: “This isn’t about making a non-Jewish actor look more like Leonard Bernstein; it’s about making a non-Jewish actor look more like a Jewish stereotype.”
Left: Bradley Cooper with his prosthetic nose, playing Leonard Bernstein.
Right: The actual Leonard Bernstein.
This isn’t about making a non-Jewish actor look more like Leonard Bernstein; it’s about making a non-Jewish actor look more like a Jewish stereotype. https://t.co/WrYWuweosW pic.twitter.com/WxspPtHktj
— Joel S. (@jh_swanson) August 15, 2023
Some went so far as to call Cooper’s use of a prosthetic antisemitic.
just looked up a picture of the real leonard bernstein…. the big antisemitic prosthetic nose on bradley cooper was definitely not necessary…. pic.twitter.com/nrCgxi9jlL
— louisa (@stabfreeman) August 15, 2023
Daniel Sugarman, the director of public affairs for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, pointed out that Cooper had previously starred in “The Elephant Man” on Broadway, a play about a man with serious physical deformities. Cooper did not use prosthetics for that role.
As has been noted in a number of places, Bradley Cooper literally played *The Elephant Man* on stage without any prosthetics. The decision here to slap on a big nose to play a Jewish composer therefore seems…even more suspect. https://t.co/gUfrLEemKR
— Daniel Sugarman is on holiday (@Daniel_Sugarman) August 15, 2023
Bernstein’s three children released a statement in response to the backlash, writing: “In happens to be true that Leonard Bernstein had a nice, big nose. Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.”
The family of Leonard Bernstein have released a statement defending Bradley Cooper following online backlash about his appearance in ‘MAESTRO’.
“Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance, and we’re perfectly fine with that. We’re also certain that our dad would have… pic.twitter.com/6DRlYsi20C
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) August 16, 2023
The controversy is the latest episode in a now years-long conversation about “Jewface,” a term used to describe non-Jewish actors playing Jewish characters on screen. Comedian Sarah Silverman popularized the term and has been a vocal critic of the trend, which angered some Jewish fans when Felicity Jones portrayed Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the 2018 film “On the Basis of Sex” and when a planned Joan Rivers project that was set to star Kathryn Hahn was announced — before being scrapped.
“There’s this long tradition of non-Jews playing Jews, and not just playing people who happen to be Jewish, but people whose Jewishness is their whole being,” Silverman said on her podcast in 2021. She plays Bernstein’s sister in the film.
Silverman is not the only Jewish actor in “Maestro.” Miriam Shor, who has described herself as “half Jewish but not really religious,” plays actor Cynthia O’Neal. Alexa Swinton, who stars on HBO’s “And Just Like That…” — and who celebrated her bat mitzvah in Israel earlier this summer — plays Bernstein’s daughter Nina. And Jewish actor Gideon Glick, known for his work on Broadway and on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” plays musician Tommy Cothran.
Following the release of the “Maestro” trailer, some also resurfaced the backstory to the film itself, which Jewish actor Jake Gyllenhaal had wanted to star in.
In a 2021 interview with Deadline, Gyllenhaal highlighted Bernstein’s Jewishness as a key factor for his interest in the project, which Steven Spielberg, who was originally to direct, eventually handed over to Cooper.
“Sticking your neck out, hoping to get to tell the stories you love and that have been in your heart for a very long time is something to be proud of,” Gyllenhaal said. “And that story, that idea of playing one of the most preeminent Jewish artists in America and his struggle with his identity was in my heart for 20 some odd years, but sometimes those things don’t work out.”
One social media user wrote that Cooper “basically stole the rights for this film from a jewish man who had been passionately trying to make it for years.”
“Maestro” will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, followed by a limited theatrical release on Nov. 22 before it lands on Netflix on Dec. 20.
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The post Jewish fans slam the trailer for Netflix’s Leonard Bernstein biopic ‘Maestro,’ which shows Bradley Cooper with an elongated nose appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.
It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, said diplomats, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.
The US is likely to oppose the draft resolution, seen by Reuters, which also condemns attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities. The text does not name the United States or Israel.
“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Sunday. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”
“We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear program,” Guterres said.
The world awaited Iran’s response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that while craters were visible at Iran’s enrichment site buried into a mountain at Fordow, “no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to assess the underground damage.”
Grossi said entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit at Iran’s sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex, while the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz has been struck again.
“Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites,” said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran requested the U.N. Security Council meeting, calling on the 15-member body “to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Israel‘s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the U.S. and Israel “do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place.”
Danon told reporters before the council meeting that it was still early when it came to assessing the impact of the U.S. strikes. When asked if Israel was pursuing regime change in Iran, Danon said: “That’s for the Iranian people to decide, not for us.”
The post UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a “moral and methodological failure,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc’s diplomatic service failed to consider Israel’s challenges and was based on inaccurate information.
“The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document … and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure,” the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.
The post Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’
FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV holds a Jubilee audience on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sport, at St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
Pope Leo on Sunday said the international community must strive to avoid war that risks opening an “irreparable abyss,” and that diplomacy should take the place of conflict.
US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites overnight, joining an Israeli assault in a major new escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself.
“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” Pope Leo said during his weekly prayer with pilgrims.
“No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons, let nations chart their future with peace efforts, not with violence and bloody conflicts,” he added.
“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population, especially in Gaza and other territories, risks being forgotten, where the need for adequate humanitarian support is becoming increasingly urgent,” Pope Leo said.
The post Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.