Amazon invited controversial rapper and pro-Palestinian supporter Macklemore to speak at a internal meeting, but allegedly vetoed a talk by a pro-Israel speaker – even as one of its workers continues to be held hostage in Gaza.
Samantha Ettus, a Harvard-educated self-help author who has taken up activism on behalf of Jewish causes since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, posted a video on Instagram on Monday accusing Amazon of having a “big giant Jewish problem.”
Ettus accused the e-commerce giant of canceling her Zoom appearance for an unofficial “affinity” group of Jewish employees because her talk was deemed by human resources to be “too controversial.”
In her Insta video, which has since gone viral, Ettus fumed that the e-commerce giant silenced her while inviting Macklemore to conduct an officially sanctioned seminar for the company’s affinity group dedicated to recovering drug addicts.
The “Thrift Shop” singer, who has been outspoken about his alcohol and drug addiction, has been a harsh critic of Israel since its troops went into Gaza to root out the terrorist organization that killed 1,400 people during last year’s cross-border raid.
Hamas also took about 240 hostages, including Alexander “Sasha” Trupanov, an Amazon employee in its Tel Aviv lab. It is not known if Trupanov is among the roughly 100 hostages believed to still be alive.
Last month, the 41-year-old Macklemore staged a benefit concert titled “Palestine Will Live Forever,” where he shouted “F–k America” and denounced Israel for “genocide” against the Palestinians.
His concert was staged just weeks after his seminar for Amazon employees. The Zoom session, which was pre-recorded and vetted by human resources personnel to ensure that it did not veer into geopolitical matters, was approved and allowed to be streamed to company staffers early last month.
“The Recovery@ affinity group has organized a conversation with Macklemore specifically on his personal journey, recovery and reducing stigmas in the workplace for those recovering from substance abuse,” the HR message read.
HR said that “the team ensured that the conversation would follow those themes for a conversation during National Recovery Month.”
“In reviewing the event, we have decided to move it to a pre-taped conversation and will review all content before sharing it with employees,” HR told the Jewish employees.
Ettus said Amazon was guilty of “hypocrisy” for platforming a “known racist and antisemite” while canceling her talk.
“Despite the Jewish people’s pleas [that] this is an antisemite and you can’t have them speak…he is allowed to speak,” Ettus said.
“So Macklemore is not controversial but I am,” she said.
An Amazon spokesperson denied there was any double-standard
“Many of these assertions lack important context, and it’s inaccurate and misleading to suggest we tolerate hostility in our workplace,” the rep told The Post.
“We realize this has been a difficult time for many, and we remain focused on supporting all of our employees.”
According to Ettus, Jewish employees at Amazon have been denied the right to form their own employee resource group, or “affinity” group, despite the fact that there are 13 such employee-run organizations representing Asians, Latinos, military veterans, LGBTQ, women and indigenous workers.
“A few months ago, I was invited to speak at Amazon by their Jewish group which is not a real Jewish group because Amazon refuses to officially acknowledge them because they say they’re a religion [and] not an ethnicity,” Ettus said in the Instagram video, which generated more than 10,200 likes as of Tuesday.
The Jewish employees filed an official complaint to human resources, Ettus told The Post on Tuesday. She said that Jewish staffers also submitted a complaint through the company’s ethics portal but that their complaints were denied.
“I appreciate you bringing these concerns to our attention,” Amazon’s human resources department told Jewish employees who protested his talk. The text message from HR was obtained by The Post.
The talk has since been removed from the company’s internal video portals.
Amazon management has previously come under fire from rank-and-file Jewish employees who have been fuming over the company’s silence regarding Trupanov.
Amazon has so far not taken a public stance on Trupanov’s captivity, stating that it was acting on the advice of defense and security experts. But Jewish employees at Amazon have agitated for the company to speak up on Trupanov’s behalf.
The company also faced heat over an an internal company video featuring Palestinian executive Ruba Borno who was seen wearing a necklace that featured a pendant depicting a map of Israel with a Palestinian flag superimposed on it — evoking the phrase “from the river to the sea.”
On Monday, Amazon said it took down the video.
