Alicia Keys found herself in a heap of backlash after sharing her desire to go paragliding on Instagram.
On Monday (Oct. 16), the “Girl On Fire” musician posted a photo of her wearing a green motojacket, and expressed that she wanted to try the extreme sport. Soon after, her comment section filled with critics stating that she was being insensitive to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“Question: What would u do if you weren’t afraid of anything??? Tell me your truth…” She captioned the post. “I’ve had my eyes on paragliding…”
According to the New York Post, Hamas terrorists paraglided into an Israeli music festival and murdered hundreds of innocent people earlier this month. Unbeknownst to her at the time, the 42-year-old removed her post and issued an apology to her following on her Instagram Story.
“The post I shared was COMPLETELY unrelated in any way to the recent devastating loss of innocent lives,” she wrote. “My heart has been breaking…. I pray for and stand for peace.”
As Keys’ post genuinely seemed innocent, many decided to bash her for it as others came to her defense.
“I can confirm to anyone in my community that needs to hear it: it’s NOT true. There was a specific word in her post that our community at this very painful time find very triggering, but it was absolutely not connected in any way,” Famed music manager Guy Oseary wrote on his own IG account in her defense.
He went on, “I spoke to Alicia and she was horrified to learn what the word implied and immediately took it down. Alicia has always been a fighter for all human rights. I’ve had a front row seat for over a decade of seeing her positive influence in the world. Her humanitarian work reflects her empathy and her heart.”
On the flip side one commenter wrote on X, “Ms. so called ‘peace & love’ knows exactly what she did and this is career suicide. It’s too late now lady!”
Another person said, “She said what she said, whilst wearing the palestine colours. She knew what she was doing. @AliciaKeys is an antisemitic person. Everyone who supports her has also been supporting Palestine’s attack all week long. Evil the lot of them.”
Alicia Keys has not further spoken out on the backlash from her post as of publication.
Per ABC News, the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7 as Israelis were wrapping up the seven-day-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. Citizens found themselves under surprise attack waged from the air, sea, and ground by hoards of Hamas militants.
Reportedly, missiles fired through Gaza and Israel, leaving thousands of people dead on the streets and many buildings decimated. The ambush also included dozens of Hamas militants in motorboats storming Israeli beaches and engaging in fierce firefights with Israeli forces. Other armed Hamas attackers swooped into Israel by motorized paragliders, attacking a music festival where hundreds of Israeli young people attended.
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