Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Meet the rabbi who performs Drake’s wedding in new music video

The gig ‘was a little bit for the fun and a little bit for the paycheck’

Before he could land a speaking part in Drake’s latest viral music video, Ari Sitnik had to star in a promotion for the local Jewish food bank.

If you haven’t seen it yet, Drake’s latest music video — which accompanied the release of his seventh studio album, “Honestly, Nevermind” — begins with the tuxedo-clad Jewish rapper standing at the altar, preparing to be wed by a man with a long beard and a black hat.

That’s Sitnik, an IT specialist and, like Drake, a lifelong Torontonian. 

His part in the nearly 10-minute video for “Falling Back,” lasts just a few seconds: He asks Drake, “Do you commit yourself to being a good husband according to our values and traditions?” After Drake says “I do,” Sitnik asks his bride the same thing.

Before she answers, the camera turns to reveal a long line of women in wedding dresses queueing behind her — 22 more brides, each holding a bouquet — and the song begins.

That part was filmed without Sitnik there — with most of the shoot held on Saturday, his role was saved for Sunday because he does not work on Shabbat. (He’s basically photoshopped into the next shot.)

The gig, Sitnik said, “was a little bit for the fun and a little bit for the paycheck.”

Sitnik, 52, said he doesn’t like Drake’s music or hip-hop in general. He had never met the “Hotline Bling” rapper before, though he was familiar with Drake’s Jewish background. Their on-set interaction was limited, he said.

It wouldn’t have been too hard to find a rabbi in Drake’s native Toronto, which is home to more than 180,000 Jews. How Sitnik, who received Chabad ordination but has never served as a congregational rabbi, got the part is both a long story and a short one.

The long story is that a few years ago, Sitnik volunteered to play a rabbi in a much smaller production: a video promoting Tomchei Shabbos of Toronto, a charity that delivers Shabbat meals to families in need.

The event director for Tomchei was connected to someone who knew Director X, a frequent Drake collaborator who directed “Falling Back.” 

The short story is that, as Sitnik put it, “they wanted someone who looked like a rabbi.”

Sitnik didn’t need convincing. He was glad to represent the Jewish community in pop culture, and he trusted Drake to cast Jewish tradition in a positive light. (He was careful, though, to not inadvertently perform a real marriage — which in Jewish tradition, can be effected with little more than a ring exchange.)

For a few hours’ work on a Sunday, Sitnik earned what he said was a typical amount for a background role with a couple of lines.

The video had already been seen 2.5 million times as of Friday afternoon, but Sitnik said his phone wasn’t blowing up over it — at least not yet.

A few of those views were his kids, who didn’t know his cameo was coming.

“They thought it was a blast, it was crazy that I did it,” Sitnik said. “They found it funny. It was completely out of the blue.”

And while marrying 23 women doesn’t quite comport with the Torah, seeing Drake do it in a music video didn’t exactly catch him off guard.

“My part was what I expected,” Sitnik said, “and the rest is what you could expect from Drake, let’s put it this way.”

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.