{"id":303618,"date":"2026-02-22T00:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/303618\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T00:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T00:21:12","slug":"hugh-laurie-confronts-antisemitism-after-dana-eden-euology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/303618\/","title":{"rendered":"Hugh Laurie confronts antisemitism after Dana Eden euology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hugh Laurie<\/a>, who starred in the third season of Tehran<\/a>, eulogized Dana Eden, the show\u2019s co-creator, on X\/Twitter after her unexpected death in an Athens hotel room earlier this week and came in for a wave of anti-Israel attacks, which he responded to angrily.<\/p>\n

However, in his response, he raised the ire of those who support Israel by dissociating himself from Zionism, showing how the term itself has become an insult in the public square.<\/p>\n

Laurie played a nuclear regulatory inspector<\/a> in the third season of the series, which won an International Emmy for Best Drama Series, and which is available in Israel on KAN and internationally on Apple TV.<\/p>\n

\"HughHugh Laurie at Keshet\u2019s Innovative TV Conference in Jerusalem (credit: ODED KARNI\/INTV)Laurie’s controversy after honoring Dana Eden<\/p>\n

The controversy about Laurie\u2019s remarks started on February 17, when he tweeted, \u201cDana Eden, who co-created and produced Tehran, died on Sunday, seemingly by her own hand. It\u2019s a terrible thing. She was brilliant, funny, and an exceptional leader. Love and condolences to all who knew her.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many responding offered condolences and praised Eden\u2019s talent as a television creator, a sizable number excoriated Laurie for daring to mourn an Israeli colleague. Clay Vessel (@ShabanaMir1) wrote, \u201cSo she was producing an Israeli propaganda series on \u2018Tehran<\/a>\u2019? And she\u2019s the one you mourn?\u201d Others called her epithets and wished that she would \u201crot in hell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurie, taken aback by the backlash, responded at first by tweeting, \u201cI used to hate blocking people, and hardly ever did it. I\u2019m older now,\u201d which garnered much support.<\/p>\n

But on Friday, he followed it up with another tweet that won both sympathy and criticism: \u201cNothing I have ever said or done could lead a sane person to believe that I am a Zionist. However. If someone exults in the death of a friend of mine, yes, I will block them. If you wouldn\u2019t do the same in my position, you can f*** off too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many were puzzled that Laurie, who chose to star in an Israeli series about a brave female Mossad agent (Niv Sultan) trying to dismantle Iran\u2019s nuclear program, would consider the term \u201cZionist\u201d an insult. Pro-Israel activist Hen Mazzig tried to clarify the meaning of Zionism in response to Laurie\u2019s tweet, saying, \u201cZionism is nothing more than supporting the Jewish people\u2019s right to exist in a country of their own, like 57 Muslim countries and countless Christian countries. Many Zionists, like myself, also support the Palestinians\u2019 right for self-determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Channel 12 correspondent Elad Simchayoff responded: \u201cWow. Why the need to distance yourself so strongly from the idea that Jews have a right to self-determination in their historic homeland? What is it that you are so ashamed of?\u201d<\/p>\n

Oscar-nominated British screenwriter Lee Kern, who moved to Israel following October 7, was more blunt, commenting, \u201cYou f***ing pathetic weasel \u2013 posturing as if you\u2019re the tough guy here but actually appealing to bullies to leave you alone by throwing Jews under the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurie responded, but didn\u2019t seem to understand why his words were upsetting, tweeting, \u201cGod almighty, why does no one understand English anymore? I have not spoken or written a word that would indicate pro- or anti-Zionism. That\u2019s what those words mean. Blimey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eden was laid to rest in Tel Aviv<\/p>\n

The day after Laurie\u2019s initial tweet, Eden was laid to rest in Israel at Kiryat Shaul cemetery in Tel Aviv in a funeral attended by hundreds. Given her role as the producer of a series critical of the Iranian government, some had speculated early in the week that the death of Eden, a 52-year-old married mother of three, during the filming of the upcoming season was a murder.<\/p>\n

But her producing partner, Shula Spiegel, released a statement shortly following the discovery of her body, saying that the Athens police investigators were correct in their assessment that she died from suicide.<\/p>\n

Among those who attended her funeral were actress Niv Sultan, as well as other actors, including Sasson Gabay, Ania Bukstein, Edan Alterman, Sarah von Schwarze, and Hanna Laslo, as well as producer Moshe Edery.<\/p>\n

Sultan posted on her Instagram account that she was grateful that Eden had cast her in Tehran and an earlier role, in the series She\u2019s Got It, calling her, \u201cThe smartest, the bravest, the most stormy and unusual and the funniest. An inspiring blonde that doesn\u2019t see with the eyes, with a passion for life, a bright head, and boxes of unspoken authenticity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eden\u2019s husband, Itamar, spoke of his love for her and her talent, saying, \u201cWith Dana, everything begins and ends with a good story, and she always had crazy stories. Starting from the story about our wedding up to the crazy story of Tehran that changed our lives and brought you to professional peaks. I am so happy about 38 years with you, sorry that I didn\u2019t always understand you all the way. I hope you find the quiet and the tranquility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eden\u2019s children, Roi, Rona, and Gur, also eulogized their mother, saying, \u201cMany times you told us that in your opinion you weren\u2019t present enough with us, but we said that isn\u2019t true. The most important thing for children is love, and your love for us was endless…. The love you gave us will be enough for us for our whole lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hugh Laurie, who starred in the third season of Tehran, eulogized Dana Eden, the show\u2019s co-creator, on X\/Twitter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8932,42,127743,152855,30948,43,3336,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-303618","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-apple-tv","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-israeli-media","11":"tag-israeli-series","12":"tag-kan","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-tehran","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}