Brett Favre Accidentally Records Anti-Semitic Video, Apologizes

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Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre is inducted into the Ring of Honor during a halftime ceremony during the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field on October 16, 2016... Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Brett Favre has apologized for inadvertently making anti-Semitic remarks in a video.

The one-time Super Bowl winner said he was tricked into recording the footage by a group of white supremacists, who then used the video to promote hatred on YouTube.

In a lengthy note posted on his Facebook page, Favre explained he was contacted on November 22 via Cameo, a company that allows consumers to book personalized video greetings from celebrities, by what appeared to be a group of U.S. veterans.

When a person books a video via Cameo, they submit a detailed set of instructions for what to include in the video. Once the celebrities have reviewed the request, they can then either accept it or reject it.

According to BuzzFeed News, Favre charges $500 per personalized video.

"Brett Favre here with a shoutout to the Handsome Truth and the GDL boys," Favre says in the video. "You guys are patriots in my eyes. So keep waking them up and don't let the small get you down. Keep fighting, too, and don't ever forget the USS Liberty and the men and women who died on that day. God bless and take care."

The former Green Bay Packers quarterback wrote on Facebook that he had "previously fulfilled more than 50 of these requests without incident," and that he assumed the references to the American research ship "stemmed from my interest in veteran affairs."

However, the 49-year-old found out the "GDL group" he had been contacted by was in fact the "Goyim Defense League." Goyim is the Hebrew word used to describe a non-Jew.

The group is run by two YouTubers who go by the nicknames of "Sway Guevara" and "Handsome Truth," Buzzfeed reports.

While Favre's words are seemingly innocuous, in the context of a video promoting an organization like GDL, they contain a number of veiled anti-Semitic comments.

USS Liberty appears to be a reference to an incident that saw Israeli forces open fire on a U.S. spy ship in 1967, killing 34 people. The incident came at the height of the Six-Day War and the Israeli government later claimed its pilots thought the ship was an Egyptian vessel.

The U.S. government later acknowledged that the incident was a case of mistaken identity, but the official explanation has long been questioned by survivors and their families.

In the video, Favre also uses the line "keep waking them up and don't let the small get you down."

"Waking them up" is a code for recruiting others to the alt-right, while "the small" refers to "the small hats," a slur aimed at Jewish people.

In his Facebook post, Favre said that he learned of the truth a few days later after recording the video, when members of the group reposted the footage implying that he endorsed their mission.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," the Hall of Fame quarterback added. "I am therefore donating my $500 Cameo fee to Charities supporting their fight against hate and bigotry."

"Like most Americans, I am sickened by what these groups stand for and concerned about their role in fueling today's negative political climate. The Cameo request from this organization is a prime example of how these groups are misusing social media to promote their agenda."

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About the writer


Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London, England. Prior to joining Newsweek in January 2018, he ... Read more

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