PHOTOS: Hitler references often end bad
Former Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez answered for an Instagram post he made featuring a photo of Adolf Hitler.
>>>Other celebrities who have drawn criticism for comments made about Hitler... less
PHOTOS: Hitler references often end bad
Former Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez answered for an Instagram post he made featuring a photo of Adolf Hitler.
>>>Other celebrities who have drawn criticism ... more
Photo: Instagram/J.D. Martinez
Celebrities' controversial remarks about Hitler
Hank Williams' Monday Night Football song was pulled from ESPN after he said President Obama's golf outing with John Boehner was "like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu." Keep clicking to see other strange comments celebrities have made about Adolf Hitler. less
Celebrities' controversial remarks about Hitler
Hank Williams' Monday Night Football song was pulled from ESPN after he said President Obama's golf outing with John Boehner was "like Hitler playing golf ... more
Photo: Mike Ehrmann
Danish director Lars Von Trier was booted out of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival after saying during a press conference for his movie "Melancholia" at the festival: “I understand Hitler. But I think he did some wrong things. … I am of course, very much for Jews. No, not too much, because Israel is a pain in the ass. … Albert Speer, I liked. He was also maybe one of God's best children. He had some talent that was kind of possible for him to use ... okay, I'm a Nazi." less
Danish director Lars Von Trier was booted out of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival after saying during a press conference for his movie "Melancholia" at the festival: “I understand Hitler. But I think he did some ... more
Photo: Joel Ryan, Associated Press
Actor Will Smith had to fight allegations that he called Hitler “good” in 2007, after Scotland’s Daily Record quoted him saying: "Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do today.' I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was 'good.'" less
Actor Will Smith had to fight allegations that he called Hitler “good” in 2007, after Scotland’s Daily Record quoted him saying: "Even Hitler didn't wake up going, 'let me do the most evil thing I can do ... more
Photo: Chris Jackson, Getty Images
Discussing his Showtime series "Oliver Stone's Secret History Of America" on January 9, 2010, Stone said, among other things: "Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it's been used cheaply. We can't judge people as only 'bad' or 'good'. (Hitler) is the product of a series of actions. It's cause and effect. People in America don't know the connection between WWI and WWII. ... I've been able to walk in Stalin's shoes and Hitler's shoes, to understand their point of view. You cannot approach history unless you have empathy for the person you may hate." Later that year, Stone was at it again, not regarding Hitler, but the Holocaust. Asked in an interview why there was "such a focus on the Holocaust," Stone told the Times of London: "The Jewish domination of the media.” He later apologized. less
Discussing his Showtime series "Oliver Stone's Secret History Of America" on January 9, 2010, Stone said, among other things: "Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it's been used cheaply. We can't ... more
Photo: Mike Coppola, Getty
Speaking on the Fox News show "Hannity" in 2009, singer and Playboy model Aubrey O'Day said: "Listen, I don't condone Hitler one ounce, but yes, he was a brilliant man. Can you guys say that he wasn't? He ran a country and convinced everyone of horrible things." In a statement to MTV News after the show, she re-emphasized that she didn’t support Hitler’s actions, saying: “What Hitler succeeded in doing was deplorable. And I hope we never see such an abusive use of power again.” less
Speaking on the Fox News show "Hannity" in 2009, singer and Playboy model Aubrey O'Day said: "Listen, I don't condone Hitler one ounce, but yes, he was a brilliant man. Can you guys say that he wasn't? He ran a ... more
Photo: Astrid Stawiarz, Getty Images
Actor Kirk Cameron, best known for starring in the '80s sitcom "Growing Pains," has since become an evangelical Christian and, in 2009, linked Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to Hitler, saying: "You can see where (Hitler) clearly takes Darwin's ideas to some of their logical conclusions and compares certain races of people to lower evolutionary life forms. If you take Darwin's theory and extend it to its logical end, it can be used to justify all number of very horrendous things." less
Actor Kirk Cameron, best known for starring in the '80s sitcom "Growing Pains," has since become an evangelical Christian and, in 2009, linked Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to Hitler, saying: "You can ... more
Korn guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer had to eat his words in 2002, after saying he believed Hitler went to Heaven.
Korn guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer had to eat his words in 2002, after saying he believed Hitler went to Heaven.
Photo: Paul Hawthorne, Getty Images
British designer, John Galliano's world came crashing down around him in early 2011, after a video surfaced showing him insulting cafe patrons and declaring "I love Hitler." After his rant, French fashion house Dior fired him on March 1. less
British designer, John Galliano's world came crashing down around him in early 2011, after a video surfaced showing him insulting cafe patrons and declaring "I love Hitler." After his rant, French fashion house ... more
Photo: Scott Gries, Getty Images
Former "Saturday Night Live" star Victoria Jackson compared President Barack Obama to Hitler in 2009, writing: "Obama legally kills babies and now he can legally kill Grandmas! Hitler did this. He killed the weak, the sick, the old, and babies and races/religions he didn't like. Hitler also controlled the media. (Where's the public debate between scientists on 'Climate Change/Global Warming?') Hitler had the VW bug invented as the state car. What will O's nationalized car be?" less
Former "Saturday Night Live" star Victoria Jackson compared President Barack Obama to Hitler in 2009, writing: "Obama legally kills babies and now he can legally kill Grandmas! Hitler did this. He killed the ... more
Photo: AP
U.S. President George W. Bush appeared to invoke Obama and Hitler differently when speaking at the Israeli parliament on May 15, 2008 in Jerusalem. Bush said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." Obama accused Bush of launching a "false political attack." less
U.S. President George W. Bush appeared to invoke Obama and Hitler differently when speaking at the Israeli parliament on May 15, 2008 in Jerusalem. Bush said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with ... more
Photo: Jack Plunkett, AP
Radio talk show host and conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, in 2009: "Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, ruled by dictate" and "The Obama health care logo is damn close to a Nazi swastika logo.”
Radio talk show host and conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, in 2009: "Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, ruled by dictate" and "The Obama health care logo is damn close to a Nazi swastika logo.”
Photo: Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images
Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich responded to questions about loyalty tests for administration officials on June 13, 2011 by compared hiring Muslims to how Americans handled with Nazis in the 1940s, saying: "We did this in dealing with the Nazis. We did this in dealing with the Communists. And it was controversial both times and both times we discovered after a while, you know, there are some genuinely bad people who would like to infiltrate our country. And we have got to have the guts to stand up and say, 'No.'" less
Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich responded to questions about loyalty tests for administration officials on June 13, 2011 by compared hiring Muslims to how Americans handled with Nazis in the 1940s, saying: ... more
Photo: Patrick Semansky, Associated Press
Of course, conservatives don’t have a monopoly on Nazi comparisons. In 2005, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said this after reading from an FBI report that included descriptions of detainee treatment at Guantanamo Bay: "If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings." Durbin later gave a tearful apology, saying: "I am sorry if anything I said caused any offense or pain to those who have such bitter memories of the Holocaust, the greatest moral tragedy of our time. Nothing, nothing should ever be said to demean or diminish that moral tragedy. I am also sorry if anything I said cast a negative light on our fine men and women in the military. ... I never ever intended any disrespect for them.” less
Of course, conservatives don’t have a monopoly on Nazi comparisons. In 2005, Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said this after reading from an FBI report that included descriptions of detainee treatment at ... more
Photo: AP
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-TN, refused to apologize after saying on the House floor earlier this year that Republican arguments on health care were “a big lie just like Goebbels” (Hitler’s propaganda chief) and “like blood libel” that led to the Holocaust. less
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-TN, refused to apologize after saying on the House floor earlier this year that Republican arguments on health care were “a big lie just like Goebbels” (Hitler’s propaganda chief) ... more
Photo: MARK HUMPHREY, AP
Then Chicago Mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun said she wasn’t trying to compare rival Rahm Emanuel (left) to Hitler earlier this year, after she compared his TV commercials to a character in the movie “The Producers” who believes Adolf Hitler was a kind man. “The joke in it was, he was a kind man, a gentle man,” Braun said of comments about Hitler in Mel Brooks’ satire, according to the Chicago-Sun Times. “We are getting the kind man, the gentle man on television.” Emanuel, who is Jewish, won the election. less
Then Chicago Mayoral candidate Carol Moseley Braun said she wasn’t trying to compare rival Rahm Emanuel (left) to Hitler earlier this year, after she compared his TV commercials to a character in the movie ... more
Photo: Larry W. Smith, Getty Images
Then California Attorney General Jerry Brown (right) also invoked Goebbels in his successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign against Republican Meg Whitman (left), saying: “Goebbels invented this kind of propaganda. He took control of the whole world. She wants to be president. That's her ambition, the first woman president. That's what this is all about.” Brown later retracted the statement. less
Then California Attorney General Jerry Brown (right) also invoked Goebbels in his successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign against Republican Meg Whitman (left), saying: “Goebbels invented this kind of ... more
Photo: Getty
Pope Benedict XVI, who was a member of the Hitler youth (a requirement for young Germans at the time), compared atheists to Nazis in a 2010 speech in the United Kingdom, saying: "Even in our own lifetimes we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live. As we reflect on the sobering lessons of atheist extremism of the 20th century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus a reductive vision of a person and his destiny." less
Pope Benedict XVI, who was a member of the Hitler youth (a requirement for young Germans at the time), compared atheists to Nazis in a 2010 speech in the United Kingdom, saying: "Even in our own lifetimes we ... more
Photo: Andrew Medichini, Associated Press
Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber didn’t compare anyone to Hitler. But he did compare his own hiding from media scrutiny by moving into the attic of Jewish agent Mark Lepselter to young Anne Frank hiding in an attic from the Nazis, saying: "it was like a reverse Anne Frank thing." less
Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber didn’t compare anyone to Hitler. But he did compare his own hiding from media scrutiny by moving into the attic of Jewish agent Mark Lepselter to young Anne ... more
Photo: Jamie Squire, Getty Images
Speaking in 2010 about National Public Radio’s firing of reporter Juan Williams for saying he gets "worried" and "nervous" when he sees someone in "Muslim garb" on an airplane, Fox News chief Roger Ailes said said: "They are, of course, Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism." He later apologized to the Anti-Defamation League. less
Speaking in 2010 about National Public Radio’s firing of reporter Juan Williams for saying he gets "worried" and "nervous" when he sees someone in "Muslim garb" on an airplane, Fox News chief Roger Ailes said ... more
Photo: ANGEL FRANCO, NYT
Aviator Charles Lindbergh was an outspoken opponent of American involvement in World War II and pinned pro-war activism on the Jews, among others. Speaking about a potential war, he said: "The potentially gigantic power of America, guided by uninformed and impractical idealism, might crusade into Europe to destroy Hitler without realizing that Hitler’s destruction would lay Europe open to the rape, loot and barbarism of Soviet Russia’s forces, causing possibly the fatal wounding of western civilization." less
Aviator Charles Lindbergh was an outspoken opponent of American involvement in World War II and pinned pro-war activism on the Jews, among others. Speaking about a potential war, he said: "The potentially ... more
Photo: AP