Kanye West already tried apologizing for his rabid antisemitism — but it seems he feels he didn’t stick the landing, ’cause he recently did another one … which was MUCH longer.
Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … the controversial rapper got some camera guys together to shoot a lengthy apology video several weeks ago — and we’re told it ended up running about 40 minutes … with Ye talking straight to the camera.
We’re told in no uncertain terms, Ye was “rambling” and at times it was impossible to decode what he was saying.
One more thing about this apology … our sources say whatever was shot is supposed to be released sometime ahead of his new album, “Vultures,” which is scheduled to drop Feb. 9 — this after several delays dating back to late last year.
A couple interesting things about this … for one, Ye already issued an apology over all his antisemitic language — dropping a statement that was written in Hebrew right after Xmas.
You’ll recall, it was a very generic mea culpa, which read in part, “I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions, it was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused.”
DECEMBER 2022
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The problem … many felt it wasn’t sincere, and more importantly a lot of people thought it might’ve actually been generated by AI. In fact, we did some digging and that may well be the case. Bigger picture … most just weren’t buying what he was selling.
Now, we have word about this … and it sounds like if he proceeds, we’ll be hearing/seeing this new apology in due time. However, based on what we’re hearing about it so far — it seems like this one might’ve been a little clunky as well.
The other mystery here is how exactly the album is going to come out. As far as we know, he doesn’t have any major distribution deal in place … so who’s gonna listen to this???
Arnold Schwarzenegger is speaking out against the barbaric, unprovoked Hamas attack on Israel … meeting with survivors and their families.
The former governor of California got emotional as he condemned the Oct. 7 slaughter of innocent civilians … saying it’s unlike anything he’s ever seen and offering his support for Israel.
Arnold met with family members of Israeli hostages who are still being held by Hamas in Gaza .. presenting them with bronze eagle statues.
After the meeting, Arnold told us he’s looking to spread peace … because it’s more powerful than hate and anger.
14-year-old Ella Shani was among the survivors traveling from Israel to Santa Monica to meet Arnold … she recounted how her father was murdered on Oct. 7 by Hamas terrorists at Kibbutz Beeri, and how her 16-year-old cousin Amit Shani was kidnapped.
Ella says her cousin was hiding in a safe room in his home when Hamas set the place on fire and broke down the door. She says Amit and two other Israeli men from a neighboring house were ordered into a car, kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
As Ella spoke for about 30 minutes, Arnold teared up … and they hugged in the end. He also showed her some of his cool movie memorabilia, like a robot head from ‘Terminator.’
The meeting was organized by the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem — Arnold has partnered with the museum for years.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is being sued by a cyclist he accidentally hit with his SUV earlier this year.
Joanne Flickinger is alleging that Schwarzenegger’s “negligent” driving led to the biking accident that landed her with hefty medical bills, according to the lawsuit, which was reviewed by The Times.
The suit states that on Feb. 5, 2023, Schwarzenegger was driving “with excessive speed and failed to keep a proper lookout” on San Vicente Boulevard when his vehicle struck Flickinger, “causing severe injuries.” The suit further alleges that Flickinger’s injuries are “permanent.”
The cyclist is seeking damages exceeding $25,000 — the exact amount is not yet known — for “past and future pain and suffering, emotional distress; past and future loss of earnings; past and future loss of earning capacity; past and future medical expenses; past and future healthcare expenses; past and future incidental expenses; and past and future household services.”
Representatives for Schwarzenegger did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment. Legal representation for Flickinger also did not immediately respond.
TMZ first reported the collision and published photos of Schwarzenegger, 75, sitting in his GMC Yukon. The outlet quoted law enforcement sources as saying the woman made a left turn in front of Schwarzenegger’s SUV before he could brake, and he was not driving at an excessive speed.
The woman did complain of pain after the accident and Arnold apparently took Flickinger’s bicycle for repairs at a local bike shop, TMZ said.
“No crime was committed,” LAPD Officer Mike Lopez told The Times in February. He said the cyclist didn’t have life-threatening injuries.
Last year, Schwarzenegger was also involved in a four-vehicle crash at Sunset Boulevard and Allenford Avenue in Brentwood, an incident that sent a woman to the hospital with minor injuries.
Arnold Schwarzenegger wants young people to be comfortable with failure and struggle — characteristics he claims are necessary to develop mental resiliency.
In a Wednesday interview for SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show, the 76-year-old action star worried that modern society is raising “a generation of wimps and weak people” overly concerned with hurting feelings.
“It’s nice to be considerate, I totally agree with that,” Schwarzenegger defended. “But let’s not over-baby the kids, and let’s not over-baby the people.”
Schwarzenegger said adults should be teaching children to be “tough” and “go through those painful moments.”
He argued those who baby themselves will never be able to reach their full potential.
Schwarzenegger compared the human mind to a bicep — just like the muscle, the mind needs resistance and pain in order to grow, he said.
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The former California governor maintained you can only become a strong person if you fail, get up again and continue to work hard.
“The more you struggle, the further you’re going to go, and the stronger you’re going to get,” he said. “You have to be able to struggle, and if you’re not able to, work on that.”
The Terminator actor continued: “The more you experience the things that you really don’t like, the more you can grow, and the tougher you get, and the more you can handle. It’s just that simple.”
Schwarzenegger told Stern the U.S. was not built by people “who slept in.”
“These were ballsy women and men that went out at 5 in the morning, and got up, and struggled, and fought and they worked their butts off. That’s what made this country great.”
The self-help style book teaches readers Schwarzenegger’s “seven tools” for finding purpose in one’s life — clear vision, big thinking, hard work, direct communication, resilient problem-solving, open-minded curiosity, and a commitment to giving back.
‘I don’t want you to be a loser’: Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers strong message to antisemites
Actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger sits down with Tracy Smith to discuss his first television series, “FUBAR,” plus the Austrian World Summit he spearheads, and how he does not have a cellphone. Then, Nancy Giles goes on set of CBS’ hit sitcom “Ghosts” to learn more about the show and its characters. “Here Comes the Sun” is a closer look at some of the people, places and things we bring you every week on “CBS Sunday Morning.”
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Arnold Schwarzenegger declared that “The Terminator” is “not any more fantasy or kind of futuristic” as he remarked on artificial intelligence nearly four decades after the release of the iconic 1984 film.
“We talk about the machines becoming self-aware and they take over,” said Schwarzenegger, who added that people had “scratched the surface of AI” at the time of the film.
“Now over the course of decades, it has become a reality. So it’s not any more fantasy or kind of futuristic. It is here today. And so this is the extraordinary writing of [“The Terminator” director] Jim Cameron.”
Schwarzenegger’s comments arrive months after Cameron, in an episode of the “Smartless” podcast in December, shared his hopes to incorporate a focus on AI in a future “Terminator” film.
“If I were to do another ‘Terminator’ film and maybe try to launch that franchise again, which is in discussion but nothing’s been decided, I would make it much more about the AI side of it than bad robots gone crazy,” he said.
Schwarzenegger, on Wednesday, praised Cameron as an “extraordinary writer” and director before adding that he wishes he could take credit for the movie.
“I can only take credit of the character that I played and the way I played it,” the actor said.
“But I mean, he has created this character. He has written it so well, he’s written the movie so well, and that’s why he is, you know, the number one director in the world.”
“I got the message loud and clear that the world wants to move on with a different theme when it comes to The Terminator. Someone has to come up with a great idea. The Terminator was largely responsible for my success, so I always would look at it very fondly,” he said of the franchise.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is perhaps one of the strangest examples of an actor who did something different with his life later on. While most people are probably familiar with him from films like Terminator and Total Recall, he then served as the Governor of California for eight years. For a lot of politicians, a governorship is a stepping stone to a Presidential run — but not for Schwarzenegger, because in order to be President, you have to be a natural-born U.S. citizen, and Schwarzenegger is obviously not.
If the rules were different, though, Schwarzenegger would like to run for President. In an interview for Who’s Talking?, Chris Wallace asked Schwarzenegger “The Constitution says that the President has to be a natural-born U.S. citizen. If not for that, would you have run for president?” He replied…
Well, yes, of course. I mean, I think the field was wide open in 2016. And I think the field is open right now. I mean, think about it right now. I mean, who is there? There is really not a person that can bring everyone together. Who is here today that people say okay, he’s not too old or he’s not too this or too that, or is that because it’s now a question about who do you vote against then who do you vote for?
He added that if he could run he “absolutely” would because, in his eyes, “I could win that election.” (It’s a “no brainer” he added.)
Unless someone changes the Constitution very quickly, though, that’s not going to happen. But if you want to watch some new Schwarzenegger stuff, though, that you can do; his new series FUBAR and his new documentary Arnold are both streaming on Netflix.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke out about that 1996 affair with his housekeeper Mildred Baena in his tell-all new Netflix documentary, “Arnold”.
Schwarzenegger admitted Shriver was left “crushed” after finding out he’d fathered Joseph, now 25, with Baena, The Sun reported.
Shriver confronted Schwarzenegger about the rumours during a therapy session in 2011.
Schwarzenegger recalled, “One day, the counsellor said, ‘Today Maria wants to be very specific about something… She wants to know if you’re the father of Joseph.’
“I thought my heart stopped. And then I told the truth.
“‘Yes, Maria. Joseph is my son.’ She was obviously crushed by that.”
Schwarzenegger and Shriver — who announced their split in 2011, but didn’t finalize their divorce until 2021 — also share daughters Katherine, 33, Christina, 31, and sons Patrick, 29, and Christopher, 25, together.
Schwarzenegger said the affair was his biggest “failure,” but insisted he has a close relationship with his kids.
He said, “I have caused enough pain for my family, because of my f**k-up… Everyone had to suffer.
“Maria had to suffer, the kids had to suffer, Joseph, his mother, everyone.
“I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
At 75, an age when most people are retired, Arnold Schwarzenegger is still an action hero, battling bad guys on screen and advocating for a cleaner climate in real life. Correspondent Tracy Smith talks with the actor about his first TV series, “FUBAR,” on Netflix; and joins Schwarzenegger in Austria, his home country, site of a global summit that he helped launch to address climate pollution.
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“People are dying,” the former bodybuilder told Men’s Health in an interview published online Wednesday. “They’re dying because of overdoses of drugs and they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”
According to Schwarzenegger, many lifters are listening not to medical professionals but instead to “charlatans” who promote steroids on social media and elsewhere.
“If I want to get medical advice … I go to the Cleveland Clinic,” he said, adding that misinformation about the drugs has made bodybuilding unsafe.
Schwarzenegger has previously confirmed that he relied on performance-enhancing drugs in the past, before Congress passed the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 to minimize use among athletes.
“It was what I had to do to compete,” the native Austrian told the Los Angeles Times in 1996, insisting then that he had avoided the dangers of “over-usage.”
The “Terminator” star told Men’s Health that his steroid regimen amounted to “One hundred milligrams a week … and then three Dianabol a day,” referring to the drug metandienone.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has previously discussed using steroids in his bodybuilding days.
Jack Dempsey/Associated Press
With his steroid-aided physique bringing him fame as an athlete and later a Hollywood star, he acknowledged that some may dismiss his warning on the drugs.
“I recognize the fact that, who am I to say this?” he said.
But the “Commando” actor, who was formerly named Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia, insisted that he’s witnessed the disastrous effects of the drugs.
“I have seen people getting kidney transplants and suffering tremendously from it,” he said. “Anytime you abuse the body, you’re going to regret it.”
His takeaway for anyone considering steroids? “Don’t go there.”
Schwarzenegger is pictured with Sally Field, his co-star on 1976’s “Stay Hungry.”
Bettmann via Getty Images
Schwarzenegger told Men’s Health that although he misses his old physique, and now strikes bodybuilding poses “only in the bathroom,” he still works out to “stay alive.”
Earlier this week, the former California governor noted how his passion for exercise — first ingrained in him by doing hundreds of situps and pushups each morning at his father’s behest — remains strong.
Moviedom’s unlikeliest siblings reunited for a special event on Saturday night.
“Twins” stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito appeared together in a special video filmed to open the 2023 edition of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Schwarzenegger opened the video, sitting in his office as he thanked journalists for the role they play in American democracy.
“Because our country would not be the shining beacon of freedom that welcomes people like me without the free press,” he declared.
“I wouldn’t be the Arnold that you know without the press — that’s a fact. Every reporter, every photographer, every editor who has brought me or my message to the people, has made my life possible and successful,” he continued.
“So even though you ask questions that annoy the hell out of me, I remind myself always that you’re actually doing the peoples’ work,” the former California governor added. “You’re the ally of the people, so never, ever stop shining a light on the truth and informing the public.”
At that point, the camera pulled back to reveal DeVito alongside Schwarzenegger in his office. Also present were Schwarzenegger’s famous pets, miniature pony Whiskey and donkey Lulu, while the theme song from “It’s Aways Sunny in Philadelphia” played in the background.
“I’m very proud of all of you. And it’s not just me and it’s also Lulu and Whisky and my twin brother Danny DeVito, we’re all proud of you!” said Schwarzenegger, as DeVito fed crackers to the pets.
“I come over here and I’m going to get bit by a horse. That’s the finger, ouch!” DeVito complains.
Reports of a sequel to the 1988 comedy have simmered for years; as recently as 2021, Deadline reported that a sequel — titled “Triplets” — was in the works, with Tracy Morgan cast as the third sibling after initial attempts to land Eddie Murphy fell through.
“I thought he would make a terrific triplet, and we rewrote the whole script for him,” “Twins” director Ivan Reitman told the outlet at the time. “Now, we’ll go out and try and put the money together and get it made.”
Sadly, Reitman — who had planned to direct the sequel — died in February 2022.
“We had a little setback because the man that was [supposed] to direct it, who directed the first one, ‘Twins’, Ivan Reitman had passed away sadly to say,” Schwarzenegger said during a March 2022 appearance at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, indicating the status of “Triplets” was up in the air.
“And so, you know now that we just wait a little bit until this whole thing cools down and then we’re gonna readdress it. But that’s a project [supposed] to be filmed in October and so it could still be you know, but we just have to now look into a different director and just get into and to see if we are going to continue with this project.”
A Halifax-area chef has gained a famous following after posting about his weight-loss journey on Twitter.
Derrick Bona of Eastern Passage, N.S. caught the attention of Arnold Schwarzenegger last Wednesday, who re-tweeted his progress picture saying: “You’ve got this, so I’m really just sharing your tweet to inspire everyone else. I’m proud of you.”
Bona said it’s been the craziest week of his life.
“What better person to give you some confidence than Arnold? The king of weight-lifting,” Bona told Global News Morning.
People told me to offer you some encouragement, but you don’t need any. You’ve got this, so I’m really just sharing your tweet to inspire everyone else. I’m proud of you. https://t.co/v9wrh8VfIN
Bona said he and his wife had just sat down for supper last week when his phone began to blow up with messages and tweets.
“I thought I’m like getting hacked or something,” he said, “and then a friend of mine’s like, ‘Do you realize you just got retweeted by Arnold with a personal message?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I do now!’”
In the beginning, Bona weighed about 600 pounds. He said he even had to order a special scale on Amazon that companies use to weigh packages.
However, after three weeks, Bona was weighing in at 561. As of Saturday, he’s down a considerable 83 pounds.
“I am now 517 pounds, and I’m 18 pounds away from never seeing 500 again,” Bona told Global’s Eilish Bonang.
Here it is my Saturday weight in. Last week I was 524 pounds this week I am 517 pounds I lost this week I was 7 pounds. Thank you to everyone who has shown me support this week. Your helped me get these extra pounds. I am now 18 pounds away from never seeing 500 pounds again. pic.twitter.com/YXmVLvablH
That’s when Bona knew he had to make a change, or he wouldn’t be around much longer.
“So I chose to put all the cards in and bet on myself,” he said.
As a dedicated Toronto Blue Jays fan, Bona said his internet popularity began with a simple tweet sharing his plans to lose some weight so he could get back to see them play.
“I’d seen them in 2016, and when I was there I couldn’t fit in the seats. I had to sit in a section that was wheelchair accessible, and I felt bad that I was taking up that spot,” Bona said, “Obviously, I’m doing it for me to live a healthier life, but I’m using getting back to the Rogers Centre as motivation to keep going.”
Moncton man seeks support from the province for post weight loss skin removal surgery
Another motivation in Bona’s life is his wife Angie. He said she has been his rock by supporting him along his journey, and even doing it with him.
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“We keep each other accountable and I’m very proud of her,” Bona said.
Bona said he regularly sets himself goals, mostly little things he hopes to do for himself again soon — like putting on socks and tying his shoes.
His long-term goal, however, is much more exciting. Bona hopes to one day throw out the first pitch at a Blue Jays game.
“That would be the epitome of everything for me,” he said.
The “giant pothole” that Arnold Schwarzenegger said he recently filled on a street in his Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood was actually a trench that had been dug for utility work, according to the city.
Southern California Gas Co. had covered the trench with temporary asphalt that was to be replaced with a permanent surface, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works said in a statement.
“We have notified the Gas Company of the issue and the need for them to maintain the site pavement until their permanent paving is constructed,” the statement said.
After months of heavy rains that have turned roads into tire-popping swiss cheese for many commuters, Schwarzenegger struck a chord when he released a video of himself and a crew filling a depression on a street with packaged asphalt patch.
“Today, after the whole neighborhood has been upset about this giant pothole that’s been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it,” he wrote on Twitter. “I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go.”
A passing motorist paused to thank the actor, who also filled another smaller hole.
SoCal Gas said in a statement that an upgrade of a pipeline system there was completed on Jan. 26 but rain delayed permanent paving, which is usually done in about 30 days. The utility’s crews returned to the site on Wednesday, a day after Schwarzenegger posted his video, and leveled off the patch he’d completed to make it stronger. It expects to finish permanent paving of the site on Tuesday.
“Teamwork. Happy to help speed this up, and thanks to the crew for pumping up my fix,” the former governor tweeted Friday.
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Fed up with a massive pothole in his Los Angeles neighbourhood, Arnold Schwarzenegger decided he would take matters into his own hands and fill it with asphalt.
“I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go,” he wrote, sharing that the hole had been “screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks.”
Today, after the whole neighborhood has been upset about this giant pothole that’s been screwing up cars and bicycles for weeks, I went out with my team and fixed it. I always say, let’s not complain, let’s do something about it. Here you go. pic.twitter.com/aslhkUShvT
In the video, a neighbour is seen rolling down her car window and shouting thanks at the action movie star.
“You’re welcome,” says Schwarzenegger, decked out in work boots, a leather jacket and his signature Terminator glasses.
“You have to do it yourself. This is crazy. For three weeks I’ve been waiting for this hole to be closed,” he says.
Fed up by an enormous pothole in his neighborhood, Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. Only, it wasn’t a pothole.
Fed up by an enormous pothole in his neighborhood, Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. But it was not a pothole.
However, a spokesperson for the city told NBC Los Angeles that the area is “not a pothole.”
The official told the news station that what Schwarzenegger filled in was actually a gas service trench that was dug for ongoing work being performed in the area by SoCal Gas. They said the work was supposed to be complete by the end of next month.
Despite being rebuked for his unauthorized road work, a rep for the former governor of California told People magazine that the city has left a lot to be desired when it comes to executing the gas work.
“The comment I saw from the city was that they would be filling the trench at the end of May,” the contact told People. “I’d be curious if they truly believe the best solution was to block off one direction of traffic for 2-3 months and force cars and bicyclists to drive the wrong way dangerously?”
“Honestly, the city is as bad at damage control as they are at performing basic services,” they added.
Fed up by an enormous pothole in his neighborhood, Schwarzenegger picked up a shovel and filled it himself. Unfortunately, it was not a pothole.
The Office of Arnold Schwarzenegger via AP
Unfortunately, the gas company will have to undo Schwarzenegger’s work and the trench will be re-dug so they can complete their project.
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However, even if it was a true pothole that got filled, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works told ABC-7 that they would have had to re-do the actor’s work, anyway – that particular street is made of concrete, not the asphalt that Schwarzenegger used.
‘I don’t want you to be a loser’: Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers strong message to antisemites
CBS’ new original series “True Lies” follows international spy Harry Tasker and his wife Helen, who becomes a spy herself after his secret double life is revealed. Actor Steve Howey talks with CBS News’ Catherine Herridge about taking on the role made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1994 James Cameron film of the same name.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger has a pretty strong message for antisemites and those who participate in hate speech: “I don’t want you to be a loser.”
The Austrian-born actor and former governor of California, in a lengthy video posted to his YouTube channel on Monday, shared the horrors and atrocities that occurred at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination and concentration camp in Poland during the Second World War, and the emotional toll he felt after visiting.
“Today, I want to talk to the people out there who might have already stumbled into the wrong direction, into the wrong path,” said Schwarzenegger, whose father was a member of the Nazi party.
“I want to talk to you if you’ve heard some conspiracies about Jewish people or people of any race, gender or orientation and thought, ‘That makes sense to me,’” he said, looking directly into the camera.
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“I want to talk to you if you’ve found yourself thinking anyone is inferior or out to get you because of their religion or the color of their skin or their gender.”
Schwarzenegger visited the Auschwitz concentration camp site a few months ago, and called it “one of the darkest moments of my life.”
The former professional bodybuilder told viewers “there has never been a successful movement based on hate,” and added that he’s “seen enough people throw away their futures for hateful beliefs.”
‘Come with me if you want to live’: Arnold Schwarzenegger gets COVID-19 vaccine
“Nazis? Losers. The Confederacy? Losers. The apartheid movement? Losers. I don’t want you to be a loser. I don’t want you to be weak … despite all my friends who might say, ‘Arnold, don’t talk to those people. It’s not worth it.’
“I don’t care what they say. I care about you. I think you’re worth it. I know nobody is perfect … I can understand how people can fall into a trap of prejudice and hate.”
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Schwarzenegger pointed to his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, whom he grouped in with “broken men” after the war who were “riddled with guilt.”
“They felt like losers, not only because they lost the war, but also because they fell for horrible, loser ideology. They were lied to and misled into a path that ended in misery,” Schwarzenegger said. “…In the end, it didn’t really matter why they joined (the Nazis). They were all broken in the same way. That’s the bottom line here.”
Schwarzenegger recalled seeing unclaimed suitcases that prisoners were promised to be reunited with as they filed into gas chambers. He spoke of scratches on the walls of gas chambers from the fingernails of desperate people “who tried to hold onto life.”
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He said that those “at the crossroads” of choosing a hateful and racist path in life “will not find success at the end of that road.”
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“Hate burns fast and bright. It might make you feel empowered for a while, but it eventually consumes whatever vessel it fuels. It breaks you,” Schwarzenegger said.
Instead of looking for scapegoats in other people, he recommended that people look more to personal accountability and inner strength, adding that there is “still hope” for those travelling a hateful road.
“There’s still time for you,” he said. “Choose strength. Choose life. Conquer your mind.”
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Earlier this year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians not to become complacent as antisemitism and hatred grow across the country.
Speaking at a Holocaust Remembrance Day memorial in Ottawa in January, the prime minister warned that in times of peace, people “look back at this atrocity, bewildered at how it could ever have been permitted to happen.”
“We wonder what could ever have driven people to such cruelty. But hate never overtakes us all at once. It creeps up inch by inch,” Trudeau said.
According to Statistics Canada, hate crimes targeting the Jewish community have been on the rise. In 2021, there was a 47 per cent increase in police-reported hate crimes against Jewish people. Of the 884 religion-based hate crimes reported to police that year, 487 of them targeted the Jewish community.
On top of that, there have been high-profile incidents of antisemitism in popular culture in the last year. Rapper Kanye West publicly praised Adolf Hitler in a spate of antisemitic posts online that spurred a fierce wave of condemnation.
A study commissioned by Canadian charity Liberation75 last year found that one-in-three students of the 3,000 surveyed believed the Holocaust was fabricated or not reported accurately.
In January, Ottawa police charged two high school students with public incitement of hatred, criminal harassment, and mischief following an incident in which they were accused of displaying a hate symbol and using antisemitic language.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the Auschwitz concentration camp site a few months ago, it was “one of the darkest moments of my life.” Now, he’s using that experience to plead with those who hold onto antisemitic and other discriminatory beliefs not to fall into the same path as those who perpetuated the crimes of the Holocaust and other atrocities, warning them, “you will not find success at the end of that road.”
In a 12-minute video posted on his YouTube page on Monday, the former professional bodybuilder, actor and California governor said he wanted to address the topic amid the recent rises in global hate and antisemitism.
He said he doesn’t want to “preach to the choir” of those who are actively against discrimination. Instead, he wants to speak to those who have “stumbled… into the wrong path.”
“I don’t know the road that has brought you here, but I’ve seen enough people throw away their futures for hateful beliefs,” he said in the video. “So I want to speak with you before you find your regrets at the end of that path.”
Schwarzenegger pointed to his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, who, he has said in the past was a Nazi soldier and part of the siege of Leningrad in World War II that famously lasted nearly 900 days. His father, he said, was one of the “broken men” after the war who were “riddled with guilt.”
Gustav Schwarzenegger’s soldiers book and other documents, pictured on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2003, which he carried in his left shirt pocket while fighting for the Germans during World War II. The book is now stored at the Austrian State Archives, home to millions of Nazi-era documents.
SUSANNA LOOF / AP
“They felt like losers, not only because they lost the war, but also because they fell for horrible, loser ideology. They were lied to and misled into a path that ended in misery,” Schwarzenegger said. “…In the end, it didn’t really matter why they joined [the Nazis]. They were all broken in the same way. That’s the bottom line here.”
He said the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination and concentration camp in Poland serves as a prime example of where harnessing hate can lead, he said. It was the largest of such Nazi camps during the Holocaust in World War II, where more than 1.1 million people were killed.
From the moment you walk through the site, “you feel a tremendous weight,” he said, describing the powerful impact of seeing the physical remnants of those who had been killed.
“The suitcases never claimed by the prisoners who were told to remember exactly where they’d left their belongings so they could retrieve them after they were finished with their showers… the gas chambers with scratches in the walls from the fingernails of people who tried to hold onto life… the crematorium, where the Nazis tried to erase all of their atrocities,” Schwarzenegger recalled seeing.
Arnold Schwarzenegger makes his first visit to the former Nazi German Auschwitz Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in Brzezinka, Poland on September 28, 2022.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
“Let me tell you something, the weight on your back hits you at the very beginning, heavier than any squat I’ve ever done. And it never goes away,” he said. “It’s the feeling of history, of millions of voices that were silenced decades ago, begging you, begging you, not just to look at their shoes, but to spend a few hours in them.”
In his video, Schwarzenegger spoke directly to those who are “at the crossroads” of going on a path driven by hate, saying that such a path may seem easy, but that those who follow it “will not find success at the end of that road.” Choosing to focus on hate, he said, is essentially choosing to create a scapegoat instead of taking responsibility.
Recent years have seen a rise in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. The number of incidents increased by more than 34% in 2021, hitting the highest number ever recorded by the Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism. In a January report, the organization said that at least 85% of Americans “believe at least one anti-Jewish trope” — up from 61% in 2019.
“Hate burns fast and bright. It might make you feel empowered for a while, but it eventually consumes whatever vessel it fuels. It breaks you,” Schwarzenegger said in his video. “…There has never been a successful movement based on hate. … I don’t want you to be a loser.”
Instead of grasping onto the misplaced belief that other groups are responsible for problems, Schwarzenegger said people should opt for a life of personal accountability and true strength.
“When you spend your life looking for scapegoats, you take away your own responsibility. You remove your own power. You steal your own strength,” he said. …You have to give up your war against everyone you hate. … The war you really have to fight is the war against yourself.”
The bottom line, Schwarzenegger said, is that there is “still hope” for those who have lived their lives fueled by hate so far.
“There’s still time for you,” he said. “Choose strength. Choose life. Conquer your mind.”
NEW YORK — Gallagher, the long-haired, smash-’em-up comedian who left a trail of laughter, anger and shattered watermelons over a decadeslong career, has died at age 76.
Craig Marquardo, in a statement identifying himself as Gallagher’s “longtime former manager,” said that he died Friday at his home in Palm Springs, California, after a brief illness. Gallagher had numerous heart attacks over the years, including one right before a scheduled show in Texas in 2012.
With a beret on his head and a few simple props, from a can of oil to a bull whip, the man born Leo Anthony Gallagher Jr. built a nationwide following in the 1970s and ’80s, appearing on the “Tonight” show with Johnny Carson and starring in numerous Showtime specials. His act included observational humor (“What about Easter? Whose idea was it to give eggs to an animal that hops”), political commentary (“They don’t call a tax a tax. They call it a revenue enhancer”), invented sports (synchronized Ping-Pong) and his trademark Sledge-O-Matic destruction.
“Ladies and gentlemen! I did not come here tonight just to make you laugh. I came here to sell you something, and I want you to pay particular attention!” he would call out in his best rapid-fire impersonation of a late-night television pitchman. “The amazing Master Tool Corporation, a subsidiary of Fly-By-Night Industries, has entrusted who? Me! To show you! The handiest and the dandiest kitchen tool you’ve ever seen.”
Sledgehammer in hand, he would then apply his full muscle to apples, grapes, lettuce and other produce, most famously the inevitable watermelon, with audience members in front showered in food bits.
Gallagher was a Fort Bragg, North Carolina, native who started out in 1960 as road manager for the comedian/musician Jim Stafford and soon began performing himself, honing his act at the Comedy Store and other clubs. He was not the only funnyman in the family: His younger brother Ron became a comedian, received Leo’s initial blessing and looked and acted enough like his better-known sibling that some audiences were unsure who they had come to see. Leo Gallagher eventually secured a court injunction barring his brother from using his routines.
The elder Gallagher became increasingly controversial in recent years, chastised for racist and homophobic remarks. Gallagher even cut short an interview in 2011 with Marc Maron after the WTF podcast host confronted him about his statements.
“I’m the problem?!” Gallagher said at one point. “Do you think when I’m dead, gays will finally have an opportunity in America? Have I really been holding them down?”
In 2003, Gallagher was among more than 100 candidates running in the recall election for California governor, won by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Over the past decade, Gallagher appeared in a Geico commercial and in the movie “The Book Of Daniel.”
Today is Friday, Oct. 7, the 280th day of 2022. There are 85 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Oct. 7, 1991, University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill publicly accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments when she worked for him; Thomas denied Hill’s allegations and would go on to win Senate confirmation.
On this date:
In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England.
In 1916, in the most lopsided victory in college football history, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland University 222-0 in Atlanta.
In 1949, the Republic of East Germany was formed.
In 1982, the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical “Cats” opened on Broadway. (The show closed Sept. 10, 2000, after a record 7,485 performances.)
In 1985, Palestinian gunmen hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro (ah-KEE’-leh LOW’-roh) in the Mediterranean. (The hijackers shot and killed Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish-American tourist in a wheelchair, and pushed him overboard, before surrendering on Oct. 9.)
In 1989, Hungary’s Communist Party renounced Marxism in favor of democratic socialism during a party congress in Budapest.
In 1992, trade representatives of the United States, Canada and Mexico initialed the North American Free Trade Agreement during a ceremony in San Antonio, Texas, in the presence of President George H.W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (muhl-ROO’-nee) and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
In 1996, Fox News Channel made its debut.
In 1998, Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was beaten and left tied to a wooden fencepost outside of Laramie, Wyoming; he died five days later. (Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney are serving life sentences for Shepard’s murder.)
In 2001, the war in Afghanistan started as the United States and Britain launched air attacks against military targets and Osama bin Laden’s training camps in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
In 2003, California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis and elected Arnold Schwarzenegger their new governor.
In 2020, President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office for the first time since he was diagnosed with COVID-19; he credited an experimental drug treatment with helping his recovery. Debating from behind plexiglass shields, Vice President Mike Pence and Democrat Kamala Harris zeroed in on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with Harris labeling it “the greatest failure of any presidential administration” while Pence defended the overall response.
Ten years ago: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez won re-election for the third time. (Chavez died in March 2013 at age 58 after a two-year battle with cancer; he was succeeded by Vice President Nicolas Maduro.)
Five years ago: Country music star Jason Aldean, who had been on stage at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas less than a week earlier when a gunman opened fire on the crowd, paid tribute to the victims and to the late Tom Petty by opening “Saturday Night Live” with Petty’s song, “I Won’t Back Down.” Protesters rallied across Russia in a challenge to President Vladimir Putin on his 65th birthday; heeding calls from opposition leader Alexei Navalny to pressure authorities into letting him enter the presidential race.
One year ago: Abortions quickly resumed in at least six Texas clinics after a federal judge halted the most restrictive abortion law in the nation. (A federal appeals court would allow the law to go back into effect the following day.) The Senate dodged a U.S. debt disaster, voting to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December and temporarily avert an unprecedented federal default. (The House would approve the extension days later.) Google said it would crack down on digital ads promoting false claims about climate change, in hopes of limiting revenue for climate change deniers and stopping the spread of misinformation.
Today’s Birthdays: Author Thomas Keneally is 87. Comedian and talk-show host Joy Behar is 80. Former National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Oliver North (ret.) is 79. Rock musician Kevin Godley (10cc) is 77. Actor Jill Larson is 75. Country singer Kieran Kane is 73. Singer John Mellencamp is 71. Rock musician Ricky Phillips is 71. Russian President Vladimir Putin is 70. Actor Mary Badham (Film: “To Kill a Mockingbird”) is 70. Rock musician Tico Torres (Bon Jovi) is 69. Actor Christopher Norris is 67. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is 67. Gospel singer Michael W. Smith is 65. Olympic gold medal ice dancer Jayne Torvill is 65. Actor Dylan Baker is 64. Actor Judy Landers is 64. Recording executive and TV personality Simon Cowell is 63. Actor Paula Newsome is 61. Country singer Dale Watson is 60. Pop singer Ann Curless (Expose) is 59. R&B singer Toni Braxton is 55. Rock singer-musician Thom Yorke (Radiohead) is 54. Rock musician-dancer Leeroy Thornhill is 53. Actor Nicole Ari Parker is 52. Actor Allison Munn is 48. Rock singer-musician Damian Kulash (KOO’-lahsh) is 47. Singer Taylor Hicks is 46. Actor Omar Miller is 44. Neo-soul singer Nathaniel Rateliff (Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats) is 44. Actor Shawn Ashmore is 43. Actor Jake McLaughlin is 40. Electronic musician Flying Lotus (AKA Steve Ellison) is 39. MLB player Evan Longoria is 37. Actor Holland Roden is 36. Actor Amber Stevens is 36. MLB outfielder Mookie Betts is 30. Actor Lulu Wilson is 17.
