Canadian journalist placed on leave for antisemitic comments

A Canadian broadcaster has been yanked off the airwaves over her antisemitic and “prejudicial” comments that American politics, its cities and Hollywood are “run by Jews.”

Radio-Canada journalist Élisa Serret said during a live French-language broadcast Monday that “the Israelis, in fact the Jews, finance a lot of American politics” when asked why the US has not distanced itself from Israel over the course of the war in Gaza.

She went on to state that they control “a big machine” and that Hollywood and major US cities are “run by Jews,” during a discussion about US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to the Jewish state.

Radio-Canada, part of the publicly funded Canadian Broadcasting Company, slammed Serret’s remarks the following day as “stereotypical, antisemitic, erroneous and prejudicial allegations against Jewish communities” and confirmed she had been placed on leave indefinitely, the Globe and Mail reported.

“These unacceptable comments contravene Radio-Canada’s Journalistic Standards and Practices and in no way reflect the opinion of the public broadcaster,” Radio-Canada said in a statement posted to its website. 

“As a result, the news department has decided to relieve the journalist of her duties until further notice,” the broadcaster said in French.

The Quebec chapter of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs [CIJA], a Canadian Jewish rights advocacy group, condemned Serret’s comments and accused her of spreading “antisemitic lies.”

Eta Yudin, vice president of the CIJA chapter, said the broadcaster took “the only appropriate course of action” by placing Serret on leave.

“We expect Canada’s national public broadcaster to recognize this reality and to take concrete steps to ensure that neither such comments – nor the systemic issues that enabled them to be aired – are ever allowed again on Canadian airwaves,“ Ms. Yudin said.

Canadian Identity and Culture Minister Steven Guilbeault, whose department is responsible for CBC/Radio-Canada, said “antisemitism has no place in Canada.”

“The words used on last night’s broadcast were pernicious antisemitic tropes and have absolutely no place on Canadian airwaves,” he posted on X Tuesday. “When antisemitic language is used by journalists, or anyone in a position of trust, it risks normalizing hatred in deeply dangerous ways.”