Ms Rachel faces criticism for talking politics and the situation in Gaza
Author, journalist and homeschooling mom of six Bethany Mandel claims popular children's entertainer Ms. Rachel "cares more about activism than education."
Children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel said she would not work with "privileged" people who have remained silent about civilians in Gaza, drawing criticism Tuesday from Campaign Against Antisemitism over what the group called an exclusionary "political purity test."
In a recent Guardian interview, Rachel Griffin Accurso, known online as Ms. Rachel, said she would make an exception for people who could jeopardize their ability to support themselves by speaking publicly, but not those she considers privileged.
"I’m going to work with people who aren’t in a privileged position, because that’s not fair to them if they could lose the ability to put food on the table. But people who are privileged who don’t say anything? Yeah, I’m not interested in working with them. Because I feel like maybe if we all said something, the genocide would stop," Accurso said.
Ms. Rachel said she would not work with "privileged" people who stayed silent about civilians in Gaza. (Variety via Getty Images)
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Campaign Against Antisemitism, which has previously criticized Accurso’s Gaza activism, told Fox News Digital that her distinction failed to account for people who may hold different views on the Israel-Hamas war, including Jewish colleagues.
"Ms Rachel’s comments on who she is willing to work with are patently hypocritical. Acting as an adjudicator is a privileged position in and of itself, and subjecting people to political purity tests is by definition exclusionary," the spokesperson said. "One would have thought that someone who has admitted to having – apparently accidentally – liked a comment online saying, ‘Free America from the Jews’, Ms Rachel would be taking care to avoid these sorts of topics entirely."
"Evidently the temptation to ostracize those with differing views on the war in Gaza, many of whom will be Jews, is too strong for her to resist," the spokesperson added.
Campaign Against Antisemitism accused Ms. Rachel of imposing an exclusionary "political purity test" over Gaza. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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Accurso's comments followed a series of public challenges to wealthy celebrities over Gaza. During a recent appearance on comedian Ilana Glazer's "It's Open" podcast, she questioned why celebrities whose careers were secure would not risk speaking publicly.
"If you are so famous, and you’re uncancellable, and you’re so famous, and you won’t even say like, ‘Kids in Gaza should have schools, people in Gaza should have hospitals.’ Like you won't say something so basic and like why can't you risk something to help save lives?" Accurso said.
Accurso also recently pledged to match rapper Macklemore’s $1 million donation to Palestinian aid organizations and called on "every wealthy White celebrity" to do the same, Fox News Digital reported.
Ms. Rachel had also faced scrutiny after calling Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza her "friend" in a resurfaced video. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
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Her remarks about who she is willing to work with came as Accurso has repeatedly framed her advocacy as concern for children regardless of nationality or religion. In the Guardian interview, she addressed criticism of her focus on Gaza.
"I was confused and devastated that people said because you care about children who are starving, and whose food is being blocked, you don’t care about these [Jewish] kids," Accurso said. "I was like, oh my gosh, I have a deep love for, a deep care for, all children."
Accurso also recently faced scrutiny over her ties to Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza after a 2025 video resurfaced showing her introducing him to her young audience as her "friend." The clip resurfaced days after Azaiza said in a podcast interview that he filmed Israeli hostages being beaten by a crowd in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, but deliberately withheld the footage.
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Her reach continues to expand beyond YouTube. Her channel has more than 21 million subscribers, while her children’s programming has been streamed more than 69 million times since she signed with Netflix in 2025, according to The Guardian.
