Menachem Silverstein, a Jewish comedian from Brooklyn, found himself at the center of an international controversy after viral footage appeared to show him declaring, “I support Israel,” and causing an audience to walk out of a Chicago comedy club. However, both Silverstein and a producer for the event stated that the incident, as depicted, did not happen.
Silverstein, 31, was offline observing Rosh Hashanah in Los Angeles when the fabricated story began circulating widely. Upon checking his phone after the holiday, he discovered numerous messages from concerned individuals asking about the video. "I turned my phone on after Rosh Hashanah, and I had over 40 messages from people being like, ‘What the hell is this? Is this you? What’s happening?’ " Silverstein told The Post.
The video in question was filmed at the Laugh Factory in Chicago and showed a comic on stage as the audience appeared to leave. The performer in the clip was actually comedian Kieron Harrell, who was participating in the Laugh Factory's prank show, “What Could Go Wrong?” According to Harrell's producer, no statement about Israel was made, and the audience did not leave due to offense.
Producers explained that the walkout was part of a planned gag for the prank show. Harrell was blindfolded and wearing headphones, and the audience was secretly ushered out. When Harrell removed the blindfold to perform to an empty room, the footage was captured. An audience member apparently filmed the crowd leaving and posted the clip online without the producers' knowledge, leading to misinterpretations.
"There isn’t a single element that was true,” Silverstein stated. “I wasn’t there. The comedian didn’t say anything about Israel. The audience didn’t walk out because they were offended. The entire thing is fake.”
Silverstein believes Al Jazeera English was among the first outlets to incorrectly identify him and attribute the fabricated statement and walkout to him. Although the English-language report was later removed, Arabic-language stories naming him reportedly remained online.
An X account, "Truthseeker," posted a version of the video that identified the performer as Silverstein and claimed he said, “My name is Menachem, and I support Israel.” This post garnered over 2 million views, and similar narratives spread across various social media platforms.
Disgraced Infowars founder Alex Jones also discussed the clip, falsely identifying Silverstein as the comedian who made the pro-Israel statement. Silverstein noted that AI search tools also contributed to the misinformation, with one tool reportedly identifying him and using an old joke of his as the supposed cause for the audience's departure.
Silverstein reported receiving a flood of abusive messages on Instagram, including antisemitic remarks. He expressed concern about the potential damage to his career, as booking agents might find false stories claiming he has a history of driving audiences away.
"I’m not going to be reaching out to any clubs until I either get this fully sorted or have enough positive press to explain why that would even come up,” he said.
He suggested the incident reflects a broader trend of targeting Jewish people based on perceived connections to Israel. "It started off with people demonizing Israel and demonizing Zionism,” Silverstein said. “Now it seems like it can be used to demonize any Jew whatsoever for a potential association with Israel, without even any sort of proof.”
Neither Al Jazeera nor Alex Jones responded to requests for comment regarding the false reports. Silverstein, who has been performing stand-up for nine years, stated he had not been to the Chicago Laugh Factory since May and that the person in the video was clearly not him.