Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre says he is among several celebrities who were tricked into using coded anti-Semitic language in a video.
According to BuzzFeed News, Favre, rapper Soulja Boy and actor Andy Dick received requests to record videos from GDL, or ‘Goyim Defense League’, the Yiddish-word for non-Jews.
The group contacted Favre through a new video service called Cameo, on which celebrities can record short, personalized videos for users for a small fee.
In a statement posted to his Facebook page on Saturday, the former Green Bay Packer said he believed he was recording a message for a veterans’ group due to his past work for veterans’ organizations.
Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre says he is among several celebrities who were tricked into using coded anti-Semitic language in a video (left and right). In mid-November he was contacted by groups Handsome Truth and GDL on Cameo, on which celebrities can record short, personalized videos for users for a small fee.
For $500, Favre (pictured, August 2016) recorded a video that was rife with coded alt-right and white supremacist language
For $500, which is Favre’s rate on Cameo, a user called ‘Handsome Truth’ sent Favre the request along with a script of what to say.
‘Brett Favre here with a shout out to the Handsome Truth and the GDL boys,’ Favre says in the video, according to BuzzFeed News.
‘You guys are patriots in my eyes. So keep waking them up and don’t let the small get you down. Keep fighting too and don’t ever forget the USS Liberty and the men and women who died on that day. God bless and take care.
For most of us, the message wouldn’t mean much. But BuzzFeed News gave a breakdown of the hidden codes in that message.
Both the GDL and the Handsome Truth are alt-right groups and refer to themselves as true American ‘patriots’.
The comment ‘keep waking them up’ is a code phrase meaning to recruit others to join alt-right movements.
‘The small’ means ‘small hats’ – a reference to kippahs and meant to be a slur towards Jewish people.
The USS Liberty is an American research ship that was accidentally sunk by Israeli forces in 1967 after they mistook the vessel for an Egyptian ship.
White supremacists group have used the incident to spread anti-Semitic propaganda.
Cameo has since taken down the video and banned the GDL from its site. The company published a statement denouncing the actions of the supremacists whom ordered the video.
‘On or about November 22nd, Cameo talent received requests that appeared to be aimed at supporting the American military. After recording the videos Cameo learned that the request came from an anti-Semitic group and contained content that could be interpreted as anti-Semitic,’ Cameo told BuzzFeed News in a statement.
‘This was a blatant misuse of the Cameo platform and a violation of Cameo’s terms of service. This is the first incident of its kind in more than 93,000 Cameos and a gross misrepresentation of the talent’s political beliefs.
‘Cameo immediately removed the videos from the website, requested YouTube to remove the content and created new filters to prevent this from happening in the future. The user has been banned from purchasing Cameos.’
Favre said that he was ‘distressed’ after learning what the true intentions behind the video were and says he plans to donate the $500 Cameo fee to charity
Other celebrities ‘tricked’ into making such videos include rapper Soulja Boy (left) and actor Andy Dick (right)
Favre said that he was ‘distressed’ after learning what the true intentions behind the video were and says he plans to donate the $500 Cameo fee to charity.
In another video viewed by BuzzFeed News, Soulja Boy calls out the supremacists groups saying: ‘Shout out to Handsome Truth and Sway at GDL. GDL for life, bitch.’
However a representative for the rapper told BuzzFeed News that his client did not know the affiliation of the group prior to recording it.
The groups, however, congratulated themselves after the video spread to the dark corners of the web.
‘Here’s the deal, guys, they can reject it if they don’t like it, right?’ Handsome Truth said during a live-streamed video on Wednesday, reported BuzzFeed News.
‘So we were trying to get it, like – we wanted to be cryptic enough to where they would say it.’