Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 22, 2019

By Marcy Oster

JTA Sacha Baron Cohen will be honored by the Anti-Defamation League for his vision, imagination and creativity.

Cohen, who most recently portrayed the late Israeli spy Eli Cohen in a Netflix series, will receive the International Leadership Award during the civil rights organizations Never is Now summit on anti-Semitism and hate. The summit will be held Thursday in New York City.

The actor, comedian and director, whose political satire films include Borat and The Dictator, will deliver a keynote address.

Baron Cohen has used humor and satire to expose peoples inherent biases by depicting racists, anti-Semites, neo-Nazis, Islamophobes and others as deeply flawed, ordinary people whose prejudices are, ultimately, laughable, the ADL said in a statement. As a celebrity and public figure, hes not shied away from taking on tough subjects off-screen, having recently spoken out about the failure of social media companies to adequately address the rampant racism, anti-Semitism and hate on their platforms.

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in the statement that Cohens characters help to expose how common prejudices are in our society and our world.

Theres many ways to combat prejudice, and anti-bias education, exposure and awareness are important tools. But there are other, more unorthodox ways to fight hate, Greenblatt said. Sachas hilarious characters fall into that latter category. They push envelopes. They cross boundaries. They evoke stereotypes and tropes, but for comedic effect.

Original post:
Sacha Baron Cohen to be Honored by ADL Detroit Jewish News - The Jewish News

Category: Anti-Defamation League
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