Steve Bannon’s Jewish Hollywood Partner Insists ‘He’s No Anti-Semite’
Steve Bannon Image by YouTube Screenshot
By Nathan Guttman May 9, 2017
Jeff Kwatinetz was Steve Bannon’s partner during the White Houses adviser’s stint as a Hollywood financier. Now, the Jewish producer and talent manager is speaking out in defense of his ex-pal.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Kwatinetz, who identifies as liberal and a Bernie Sanders supporter, said that he had never heard a racist word come out of Bannon’s mouth.
“I know that he’s not anti-Semitic. I am absolutely positive that he’s not anti-Semitic or racist. It is absurd. I am Jewish, Roy Furman was Jewish, Andrew Breitbart was Jewish,” Kwatinetz said. “He is not anti-Semitic. Period.”
Kwatinetz, who accused the media of being biased against his former partner, was not asked about Bannon priding himself for opening the door to alt-right writers and white nationalists while running Breitbart.
Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman
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