The video made headlines with the Jewish Chronicle calling it “openly antisemitic” in a scathing report. They found the video deeply offensive.
The short video shows a “Jewish guy” getting into a taxi, where the driver asks him his name. The passenger rolls up his sleeve “to check” and the driver delivers the punchline:
“No I don’t want your number,” he mouths in synch with the lyrics of the song ‘No Scrubs’ by TLC, which serves as the background for the entire video.
The controversy went even further due to the fact the some social media users seemed to like the “practical joke”
“Oh my god you cant [sic!] say that,” one commenter said, adding three smiley faces.
“i sent this to my jewish friend… i hope she still loves me after this,” yet another response read.
According to the Jewish Chronicle, “numerous complaints” about the video have been sent to TikTok, which apparently has failed to act on them so far.
As accusations of anti-Semitism grew in number, the content creator, a British man named Bradley Brooker, who plays both roles in the video, said people shouldn’t read too much into the clip.
“If you read through the comments on the video there have been Jewish people finding the funny side to it. It’s not me hating a religion – it’s just a joke,” he posted on Monday.
This is gross. Have @tiktok_uk not removed it? Surely they have a duty here? Tiktok is a much loved platform for young people today but this has no place on it:
“Holocaust tattoo hate video gets over 600,000 hits on TikTok” @JewishChron https://t.co/j3QCcqqwOE
— Karen Pollock (@KarenPollock100) May 18, 2020
CAA writes to employer of star of sick viral @tiktok_us video mocking #Holocaust victimshttps://t.co/TarEDv9Odx
— Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) May 18, 2020