Jewish wrestling champion MJF denounces anti-Semitism in America – and wonders if taking a stand has hurt him
In his main job as a wrestler, he has already achieved great things at a young age and has been reigning on the big TV stage as World Champion of WWE competitor AEW for over a year.
At the same time, he has – similar to the young Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – already left his first footprints in Hollywood, co-starring and co-producing the surprisingly successful film “The Iron Claw” about the tragedy of the Texan wrestling dynasty of Erich.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman, alias MJF, could look back on his achievements with satisfaction. But the 27-year-old New Yorker is also currently preoccupied with another major issue: anti-Semitism, which has shaped his life as a Jew – and is currently flaring up again in the USA in the wake of the war in Gaza.
MJF has now given vent to his thoughts on this in the Player’s Tribune – in an article that provides plenty of material for discussion
MJF experienced anti-Semitism first hand
“People keep telling me that being bullied is part of my ‘backstory’. No, f**k you, it happened,” writes Friedman. He makes it clear that the relevant incidents that he has dealt with on camera are based on real experiences and are not fabrications.
“Other children threw coins at me and shouted: ‘Pick them up, Jew boy’,” Friedman recalls. The contemptuous comment reflected the anti-Semitic stereotype that Jews were obsessed with money – which in turn has its roots in the fact that in Christian societies of earlier centuries, Jews were forced into the profession of moneylender because they were forbidden from practicing most other professions.
Friedman’s personal experience was recently incorporated into his feud with Jay White and Juice Robinson in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ mass murderous terror attack against Israel on October 7. Friedman also spoke at a “Stand up to Jewish Hate” campaign event at the New England Patriots stadium five days afterward.
Now Friedman is raising the uncomfortable question of whether his public engagement on this issue may have done more harm than good to his reputation.
“I’m a Jew in America and f**king soul-sick “
“Do you want to know the truth? I sometimes wonder if it’s really still a ‘babyface move’ to stand up against anti-Semitism,” he writes: “No, really: I wonder if being a proud Jew has made me less popular as a wrestler. And whether the deeper reason someone says ‘MJF fatigue’ is because they actually mean, ‘Enough of this Jewish stuff.'”
Friedman elaborates, “I don’t know the answer to that question – but I’m sure I’m going to get dirt again just for asking that question. But those are my thoughts right now. One fears the worst. I’m a Jew in America and f**king soul-sick.”
In connection with the war in the Middle East, Friedman emphasized: “I am against terrorism, Zionism, genocide, war, bombs, genocidal governments, dead innocent Palestinians, dead innocent Israelis.” He is “against all death by hatred”, but he is deeply disturbed by the fact that “people are calling for the death of Jews for something that is happening on the other side of the world. And it makes me sick that Hamas, a terrorist organization in the literal sense, has fans on this side of the world.”
He currently has to read “anti-Semitic sh** every day”, sometimes “from people I know”. All of this is very upsetting for him personally, not least because of his love affair with “a very hot woman who, by the way, is Palestinian.”
Future after end of contract at AEW is open
MJF contests the main event of the Pay Per Views World’s End against Samoa Joe that night – and in the article also touches on the subject of his still unresolved future.
In 2019, he signed a five-year contract with AEW, which looks set to expire next year. Speculation about a possible move to WWE was recently fueled by companion and mentor Cody Rhodes, who expressed his conviction in an interview that MJF would “eventually” end up with the market leader.
MJF, on the other hand, says that he is not yet clear about his immediate plans: “I don’t know what’s next. “
