Actress Alyssa Milano walks to a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting after a break on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, during a hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (Associated Press)
Actress-turned-activist Alyssa Milano won’t speak at the next Women’s March unless its organizers condemn controversial, anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Women’s March organizers Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory have been tied to Farrakhan in the past. Mallory even refused to denounce Farrakhan after attending a speech in which he said, "The powerful Jews are my enemy.”
Sarsour went on to defend Mallory in a lengthy Facebook post, declaring that she would “not sit back while a strong, bold, unapologetic, committed Black woman who risks her life every day to speak truth to power and organize and mobilize movements is questioned, berated and abused.”
The Women’s March eventually condemned Farrakhan’s comments in a statement back in March, but it wasn’t good enough for Milano.
“Any time that there is any bigotry or anti-Semitism in that respect, it needs to be called out and addressed. I’m disappointed in the leadership of the Women’s March that they haven’t done it adequately,” Milano told The Advocate.
Sarsour, a pro-Palestinian activist, has repeatedly praised Farrakhan and refused to condemn him. Mallory called him the “GOAT” or “Greatest of all time,” and served as a national organizer for his “Justice or Else” rally in 2015.
Milano told The Advocate she noticed their views regarding Farrakhan and would turn down a chance to speak at the next event if Sarsour and Mallory were still involved.
“I would say no at this point. Unfortunate that none of them have come forward against [Farrakhan] at this point. Or even given a really good reason why to support,” Milano said.
Farrakhan has also said “white folks are going down” and refers to Jewish people as termites.
Farrakhan is well known for his anti-Semitic, homophobic and controversial views. The height of his prominence came when he organized the 1995 Million Man March in Washington, a symbol of black pride and empowerment. He made headlines recently be saying "Death to Israel" in Farsi and was accused of substituting "America" for "Israel” in the official language of Iran.
His controversial rhetoric goes back decades but prominent Democrats have been hesitant to denounce him. In June, Twitter took away Farrakhan's verified status after he posted a video in which he ranted about "the Satanic Jew and the Synagogue of Satan." Twitter is frequently under fire for allowing Farrakhan to have an account at all.
The next Women’s March is scheduled for Jan. 19.
“We are outraged. We are organized. They forgot that 5 million women lit the world on fire two years ago,” the Women’s March website says. “We’re going to remind them when we flood the streets of Washington, D.C., and cities across the globe.”
The Associated Press, Fox News’ Samuel Chamberlain and Caleb Parke contributed to this report.
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