Jewish groups to TMZ: Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein nose in ‘Maestro’ is not antisemitic

JTA — The Anti-Defamation League agrees with Leonard Bernstein’s family: Bradley Cooper’s prosthetic nose in the upcoming “Maestro” biopic is not an antisemitic portrayal of the celebrated Jewish conductor.

“Throughout history, Jews were often portrayed in antisemitic films and propaganda as evil caricatures with large, hooked noses. This film, which is a biopic on the legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein, is not that,” the group, which monitors and responds to antisemitism, writes in a statement first published by TMZ.

The American Jewish Committee also sent the celebrity news site a statement defending Cooper, writing: “We do not believe that this depiction harms or denigrates the Jewish community.”

After the film’s trailer dropped last week, criticism erupted over Cooper’s apparent prosthesis. Some said Cooper’s appearance was redolent of antisemitic stereotypes about Jewish noses, while others went further and said it was a literal embodiment of “Jewface,” a critical phrase that has come to refer to portrayals of Jews by non-Jewish actors. The ADL’s statement does not weigh in on the broader question of Jewface.