February 21, 2024 / By mobanmarket
WINNETKA, IL — A Winnetka bookstore canceled a planned appearance by actor and first-time author Brett Gelman.
Gelman, an outspoken supporter of Israel, blamed antisemitic intimidation for the cancelation of an promotional appearance that had been scheduled for next month to promote his book.
The Book Stall withdrew due to safety worries not related to the book, a representative said in a statement.
Gelman, a Highland Park native best known for his roles in the Netflix show “Stranger Things” and the BBC series “Fleabag,” had booked a four-city tour next month to promote his first book, “The Terrifying Realm of the Possible: Nearly True Stories.”
Two of the three book stores on his tour have since pulled out.
“The Book Stall withdrew from our event with actor Brett Gelman not in an attempt suppress his debut book of humorous short stories, but due to security concerns,” said Robert McDonald, the bookstore’s event coordinator.
“We did not feel our small bookshop could guarantee the comfort and security of our staff, the community, or the author, due to issues unrelated to his book,” McDonald told Patch via email. “Our concern was not only for the event itself, but also for the time period leading up to and after such a program.”
“I was really looking forward to seeing my old friends and what’s left of my North Shore relatives,” Gelman told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It was going to be a reunion of sorts. A special event.”
Gelman had also been due to appear at Book Passage in San Francisco.
After learning of the cancelations, Gelman told the New York Post he believed it was due to his vocal support for Israel and the fact that he is Jewish, describing it as “a completely antisemitic act.”
A co-owner of the San Francisco bookstore told J. The Jewish News of Northern California that he disputed Gelman’s assertion.
Bill Petrocelli told J. that Gelman’s event had been canceled due to “intemperate and ill-advised remarks that he made against some other ethnic and social groups,” but declined to specify which ones.
Gelman responded through a publicist that “it seems as if Mr. Petrocelli is proving himself to be antisemitic by saying that me advocating for the self-determination, safety and humanity of my own people equates to disparaging Palestinians.”
At the Nov. 14 “March for Israel” rally in Washington, D.C., Gelman was one of the first speakers to address what organizers described as the largest pro-Israel gathering in U.S. history.
“We don’t need anyone else. We are the Jewish people, that is more than enough. That is all there ever was, that is all there is, that is all there ever will be,” Gelman said. “And that, my friends, that, is everything.”
During a trip to Israel in December, Gelman joined the cast of the television show “Eretz Nehederet” to portray a pro-Hamas American university professor.
On social media, Gelman describes himself as a “Zionist pig.”
“If you do not at least partially blame Hamas for the deaths of its people you don’t care about Palestinians. You just hate Jews. If you do not call for the release of the hostages you as you call for a ceasefire you just hate Jews,” Gelman said last month in a post on X. “And if you hate Jews please unfollow me.”
Remaining on the books are Gelman’s March 18 scheduled appearance at the Marlene Meyerson JCC in New York and his March 27 in-store event at Book Soup in West Hollywood, California. A March 19 event at Town Hall in New York was also canceled.
McDonald said The Book Stall would still have Gelman’s books on its shelves following its March 19 release.
“We are hurt by how our withdrawal from this event has been characterized. We are certainly not banning Mr. Gelman’s book,” McDonald said. “We have a long and proud history of working with all communities, including Jewish authors in the store, at area schools, and in temples across Chicagoland.”
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