Should we let celebrities sway our votes? Some candidates are certainly hoping the answer to that is yes. Since Kamala Harris became the democratic presidential candidate, a large and growing list of iconic celebrities, from Beyonce to Bruce Springsteen, have endorsed the current VP. Jewish celebrities have also overwhelmingly come out in support of Harris, campaigning for her, attending the DNC and joining events for Jewish voters.
In a way, the Jewish celebrities voting for Harris represent the majority of Jewish voters, who have historically voted for Democratic candidates. We don’t know yet how some events of the past year, like the Israel-Hamas War and rising antisemitism, will affect that trend, yet for most of these Jewish celebrities, they aren’t, at least publicly, the deciding motivator in their choice for president.
Here is what Jewish celebrities are saying about who they will be supporting this election:
Barbra Streisand:
Streisand shared her support for Kamala at a Jewish Women for Harris event this summer. “At our Passover seder, we like to expand the traditional stories of Jews to include and celebrate Jewish women — rebellious women like Esther and Miriam. Too often the word rebellious is used to describe women who challenge authority, but without that challenge, change rarely happens. So let’s all find our own rebellious spirit to fight hard for our country. Your vote is your voice, let it be heard loud and clear,” she shared, saying that she hopes people will choose to vote for Kamala for all the reasons she stated, but also, she added, “Let’s not forget, she married a nice Jewish guy.”
When reports came out about Trump sharing his admiration of Hitler (allegations Trump has denied), Streisand shared on Twitter: “For the Jews and Gay people that were killed by Hitler, we can’t let America be led by an authoritarian who admires him.”
Amy Schumer:
Comedian and actress Amy Schumer has endorsed Kamala from day one. When people mocked Tim Walz’s son, Gus, who has been diagnosed with a non-verbal learning disorder, ADHD and anxiety, for his emotional reaction to his father at the Democratic National Convention, Schumer, whose husband is autistic, asked anyone who doesn’t love Walz’s son to please “take me out of your phone,” adding, “Go Kamala!”
Jeff Goldblum:
Jeff Goldblum, who recently starred in Netflix’s “Kaos” and is in the new “Wicked” movies, shared that he was voting for Harris. “VOTE FOR WOMEN!!!” the father of two wrote in Instagram.
Mayim Bialik:
Actress and podcaster Mayim Bialik shared a quote from The Atlantic endorsement of Kamala Harris that she found particularly poignant: “Trump is the sphinx who stands in the way of America entering a more hopeful future. In Greek mythology, the sphinx killed every traveler who failed to answer her riddle, until Oedipus finally solved it, causing the monster’s demise. The answer to Trump lies in every American’s hands. Then he needs only to go away.”
Matisyahu:
In an interview with Paula Froelich, rapper and reggae star Matisyahu shared that he will be voting in the 2024 election for the first time, and casting his vote for Donald Trump. While he said that leading up to the 2024 election he “couldn’t stand Trump” for his personality, after October 7, he feels for the first time that his vote matters, motivated by the “fact that certain people haven’t stood up and spoken out and made it, you know, a priority to think about what’s going on.”
Carole King:
Carole King has long been open about her politics. The singer and songwriter voiced her support for Kamala Harris at a Swifties for Kamala call, where she called Taylor Swift her songwriting “granddaughter” and even sang the lyrics to the chorus of “Shake It Off.” Wearing a pink pussy hat, King also spoke at the 2024 Women’s March this month, expressing her support for reproductive rights and giving the crowd a tip on how to handle election anxiety, a tip that she got from her close friend: “Inhale hope and exhale optimism.”
Harrison Ford:
Last year, Harrison Ford shared in an imterview: “My mother was Jewish, my father was Catholic, and I was raised Democrat — my moral purpose was being a Democrat with the big D.” This week, the actor, who doesn’t often make pronouncements about the specific politicians he supports, endorsed Kamala Harris. “The truth is this, Kamala Harris will protect your right to disagree with her about policies or ideas, and then, as we have done for centuries, we’ll debate them, we’ll work on them together, and we’ll move forward the other guy, he demands unquestioning loyalty. So says he wants revenge. I’m Harrison Ford, I’ve got one vote, same as anyone else. And I’m going to use it to move forward. ”
Harrison Ford: When dozens of former members of the Trump administration are sounding alarms saying ‘For God's sake, don't do this again,’ you have to pay attention. They're telling us something important. I've got one vote, same as anyone else, and I'm going to use it to move… pic.twitter.com/C4m4x2Y2qv
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) November 2, 2024
Scarlett Johansson:
Jewish actress Scarlett Johansson brought together much of the cast of “Avengers” to assemble for Kamala Harris in a cheesy video where they tried to come up with a catch phrase for Harris. She also went canvassing in Pittsburgh for the democratic candidate: “There’s a lot going on here, a lot of mixed messaging,” Johansson shared. “And I think it’s so important for us to just get people to engage.”
Ben Stiller:
Ben Stiller and Andy Cohen joined Doug and Ella Emhoff in a video in which they shared why being “girl dads” makes them want to support Kamala. They both said that the endorsement for Kamala was an “investment in my daughter’s future.”
Ella Stiller, who recently graduated with a BFA in acting from Julliard, actually attended the DNC with her father, and shared her enthusiasm for Harris as a candidate on social media: ” I love that she is brilliant, genuine, hard working, passionate, joyful, and selfless. She loves this country.”
Her dad also shared a delightful “Zoolander” parody on his and Doug Emhoff’s social media accounts:
Jamie Lee Curtis:
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis shared that the issue that determined her vote is reproductive health. “I am the mother of two adopted daughters, and I respect each of their birth mother’s CHOICES to bring them to term and then to place them in my care,” she shared on social media this Monday, “but I wholeheartedly believe that my daughters should have the RIGHT to make that CHOICE for themselves.” She went on to say Harris “will protect their rights. We cannot go back into the shadows the way we were when reproductive rights were relegated to back alleys and unsafe conditions with fear and shame.”
David Duchovny:
Actor and writer David Duchovny shared his feelings about the election on his podcast, Fail Better, in which he talks to fellow famous people about their failures. While he said that he was scared of alienating people with his opinion, “the prospect of having Trump another four years just taking up so much attention, in many way meaningless attention with his nonsense, it’s not even policy thing… I’m for reach people carrying a bigger burden of taxes, access to abortion, Roe v. Wade, in many ways a president is symbolic of a country and I would rather think of this country as being led my Kamala Harris than Donald Trump, just to mirror our soul,” he said, saying that Trump “would be the ultimate guest for my show because he has failed and failed and failed again and not ever succeeded.”
Sarah Jessica Parker:
On Instagram, Sarah Jessica Parker shared 25 reasons why she’s voting for Harris, which include her three children, and also, for the “childless cat lady” she plays on TV. She also shared pictures that her 15-year-old daughter took of her at the polls voting early this Sunday.
Mandy Patinkin:
Actor Mandy Patinkin and his son Gideon traveled the country to interview 14 National Security experts and veterans to talk about the upcoming election. “I ran into a few members of National Security Leaders For America… at the DNC and was moved by their passion and willingness to break with military tradition and speak out politically as they believe the consequences of another Trump presidency would be truly disastrous and that Harris is abundantly qualified for the job,” Patinkin shared about the motivation behind the project.
The singer and recent “Death and Other Details” star also shared his Yiddish cover of “Over the Rainbow” at a recent #HeroesforHarris event, a song that resonates with him as the son of Jewish refugees who came to America, like the song’s Jewish writers, but also an anthem of hope that he hopes will help buoy us through this moment in history.
Pink:
Jewish singer Pink has long been an outspoken critic of former president Trump. Three months ago, when Kamala Harris first became the presidential candidate, she joined the “White Women Answer The Call” event in her support. She was touring in Sweden and the time was 3 a.m., but Pink told those attending that she had never felt more awake. When she has seen Trump speak at his rallies, she said, “It scared me how organized hatred, how organizing hatred can be. I’m not a person that loses hope, but I’m feeling like I’m losing a little bit of hope, if this is what we’re doing. And I thought, oh my God, I have a 7-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, and I don’t know what to tell them anymore about who we’re supposed to be. And if this is what we’re trying, if what we’re allowing this base, horrific, horrible nature that is within all of us to be glorified and celebrated and elected, I think it’s time. I think it’s it’s time that we fought back.”
“We’re really fighting for the right thing. I can’t fight ignorance. I can’t fight stupid. I can’t fight crazy, but what I can stay focused on laser sharp is I know in body and myself, what is right and what is wrong. I know that hatred should not win. I know that we’re better than this, and I know that Kamala is gonna get us there, because the other choice… doesn’t feel human love can win,” she said.
She and her daughter Willow also performed at the DNC, singing her hit song “What About Us.”
Susie Essman:
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Susie Essman gave a pretty delightfully unhinged speech at the Jewish Women for Kamala Harris event this August.
Essman lauded Harris’s humorous demeanor, saying that she’s not a “farbissina punim,” using the Yiddish term for sourpuss. She urged those on the call to “embrace your power and be the badass Jewesses that I know you all are,” which she said one can do by donating, calling and volunteering for Harris.
Adam Brody:
The hot rabbi of “Nobody Wants This,” aka Adam Brody, has campagined in Pennsylvania with Jewish governor Josh Shapiro, who shared a picture of the two of them and dubbed them fellow Matzah Ballers, a reference to the Netflix show. In a video with Shapiro, Brody talked about how his character goes after his dream of love in the show, just like we are going after our dreams this election. He also shared a video in support of the Brady Pact, which works to elect candidates who support gun safety laws. He shared that he asks people to help him elect these candidates not “as an actor, not as a pretend rabbi, but as a father of two who just wants to, like many of you, drop their kids off at school and know that they’ll be safe when they do so. It is ludicrous to me that gun violence is the number one killer of kids in America. It’s an abomination. We don’t have to live like this. No other developed nation does.”
Fran Drescher:
Fran Drescher, the showrunner and star of the hit show “The Nanny,” shared a parody of the show’s iconic theme featuring an animated version of Kamala Harris. “I’m ready to see how the world shifts with a woman leading the free world!” she wrote.
Mel Brooks:
Iconic comedian Mel Brooks, who brought us “The Producers” and “Young Frankenstein,” proved to us that he’s still as relevant as ever when he parodied Taylor Swift’s picture of her and her cat in her endorsement of Kamala Harris, and took a picture of himself and his dog posing similarly. “I don’t have a cat, so a dog will have to do! But like Taylor Swift I’m all in for @KamalaHarris & @Tim_Walz ! #VoteBlue,” he shared on X.
I don’t have a cat, so a dog will have to do! But like Taylor Swift I’m all in for @KamalaHarris & @Tim_Walz ! #VoteBlue
Double check your own voter registration and find local early voting dates here: https://t.co/HzH35dTifv pic.twitter.com/nqwFvp5hLT
— Mel Brooks (@MelBrooks) September 12, 2024
Lizzy Savetsky:
Influencer Lizzy Savetsky, who recently opened up about the incident that led to her leaving “Real Housewives of New York,” listed all the reasons why she believes Trump is the better candidate on Israel and antisemitism on her Instagram page:
