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‘Parade’ star Ben Platt wears Star of David necklace as part of Met Gala costume
(JTA) — Ben Platt, the Broadway star headlining a musical about an antisemitic episode in American history, donned a Star of David necklace as part of his outfit for Monday night’s Met Gala.
The annual gala is a hallmark of the fashion calendar, and celebrities are urged to put together splashy costumes to match a theme. This year’s event was a tribute to Karl Lagerfeld, the designer whose parents were Nazis and who led a fashion house, Chanel, that had its own Nazi past.
Platt’s outfit — a white boucle tweed suit with platform heels, over a corset — riffed on Chanel’s iconic women’s suit designs. As he has in past years’s Met Gala costumes, Platt also incorporated robust jewelry, including a gold chain belt, rings on multiple fingers and, around his neck, a Star of David necklace. (While Platt did not identify a designer in his Instagram post, commenters suggested that the necklace could be the work of David Yurman, a luxury jeweler who credits the Hebrew Free Loan Society for giving him his start.)
Platt’s necklace choice comes as the performer nears the conclusion of a Broadway revival of “Parade,” which tells the story of the 1915 antisemitic lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish man accused of raping and murdering a girl who worked in the Georgia factory he managed. Platt has said the show is warranted at a time of rising antisemitism and white supremacy in the United States.
“This show is all about not only antisemitism, but the failure of the country to protect lots of marginalized groups, and we’re all feeling that really intensely right now,” Platt told the New York Times in October, during an off-Broadway run of the show.
Neo-Nazis rallied outside the show during its first night of previews on Broadway in February. Frank frequently features in the rhetoric of some neo-Nazis who reject the consensus that he was innocent of the crime. They see advocacy on Frank’s behalf as evidence of Jewish control of the media — a longstanding antisemitic trope.
Platt, who is Jewish and attended camp in the Conservative movement’s Ramah network, said the incident showed the relevance of the play. “I just think that now is really the moment for this particular piece,” he said.
Platt’s costar on the “Parade” stage, Micaela Diamond, also attended the Met Gala, wearing a lavender gown and makeup. She drew accolades from some fashion-watchers for wearing her hair in its natural curls — a move that some have argued can be an act of resistance for Jewish women.
The duo’s appearance came amid criticism of the Met Gala for honoring Lagerfeld, who had a reputation for racism and sexism. He also drew condemnation in 2017 for criticizing Germany’s decision to admit Muslim refugees and tying his criticism to Germany’s Holocaust record.
Lagerfeld fought to keep his parents’ history — they joined the Nazi Party in 1933, the year of Adolf Hitler’s ascent to power and of Lagerfeld’s own birth — out of public view. It was not revealed until after his death in 2019. (Typically flamboyant, he also insisted on anonymity after making a small donation to a synagogue near one of his homes in the South of France.)
Lagerfeld was best known as the creative director of Chanel from 1983 until his death, building the designer into a fashion juggernaut that is rarely associated with its own Nazi past. Chanel’s early investors, a Jewish family, were forced from Germany and evidence suggests that Coco Chanel, the company’s French founder and namesake, not only had a relationship with a Nazi officer but may have actively spied for the Nazis.
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Exclusive: Israeli Officials Harshly Critical of Steve Witkoff’s Influence on US Policy on Gaza, Iran, i24NEWS Told
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Amid growing disagreements with the Trump administration over the composition of the Board of Peace for Gaza and the question of a strike on Iran, officials in Israel point to a key figure behind decisions seen as running counter to Israeli interests: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The officials mention sustained dissatisfaction with Witkoff. Sources close to the PM Netanyahu told i24NEWS on Saturday evening: “For several months now, the feeling has been that envoy Steve Witkoff has strong ties, for his own reasons, across the Middle East, and that at times the Israeli interest does not truly prevail in his decision-making.”
This criticism relates both to the proposed inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza’s governing bodies and to the Iranian threat. A senior Israeli official put it bluntly: “If it turns out that he is among those blocking a strike on Iran, that is far more than a coincidence.”
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EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over US President Donald Trump‘s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
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Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.