ADL report documents exclusion of Jewish and Israeli artists in US arts, museums and publishing

Right · 1The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a body of research on Thursday 1 October 2026 titled "State of the Arts: Advancing Jewish Inclusion in Arts, Entertainment and Culture". It says Jewish and Israeli artists face systemic exclusion and marginalization in American cultural life. 1 Right · 2ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said: "Jewish artists are being canceled, blacklisted, and pushed out of American cultural life. We knew the situation was bad; we just didn't know how bad, and no one had documented it this way before." 1 2 Right · 1The museum report, "Behind the Frame", graded 40 leading US art museums on policies, artist representation and programming. Of the 40 museums invited to review their assessments, 20 took part. Only the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive earned the gold standard, while 12 museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and The Broad, were rated "critically deficient". Greenblatt said none of the 40 includes Jewish identity in its DEI commitments, and only one recognized Jewish American Heritage Month in May 2026, though 60% continued to mark other heritage months. 1

Right · 2The publishing report, "Missing Chapter", draws on secondary research and more than 30 interviews with authors and publishing professionals. It identifies seven trends since 7 October 2023. These include manuscripts with Jewish, Israeli or Zionist content being treated as commercially risky, pressure on authors to remove Hebrew words, Israeli settings and Jewish-sounding names, online blacklists such as a May 2024 "Is your fav author a Zionist?" spreadsheet, review-bombing, and boycotts of Israeli publishers. 1 2 Right · 1The entertainment report, "Dark Stage", catalogs 65 incidents across 41 US locations in music, comedy, theater, dance, film and campus events. According to the Jerusalem Post, it describes a "security veto", where the prospect of protest rather than a confirmed threat leads venues to cancel shows. It also describes mid-performance harassment of comedian Judy Gold and singer Regina Spektor. 1 Right · 1Breitbart, relaying The Wrap, says the report cites cancellations involving musician Mikey Pauker and Israeli musician Raviv Kaner, and attempts to cancel comedian Jerry Seinfeld's shows. It says some cancellations followed direct threats while others had "less legitimate justifications", and that the report tries to separate political protest from discrimination. 2

Right · 1The ADL Center on Extremism also published an investigation into activist groups that pressure venues and museums. The ADL Ratings and Assessments Institute ran an online survey through Prolific in July 2026 with 951 US adults. 1 Right · 1In the survey, 88% agreed they would visit a gallery showing Jewish artists' work, 87% would attend a performance by Jewish performers, and 84% would buy a book with Jewish topics or characters. For Israeli-identified work the figures were 77%, 75% and 73%. About 85% agreed that excluding Jews from cultural spaces contributes to anti-Jewish hate, and 72% said the same of excluding Israelis. However, 32% found it understandable to avoid galleries showing Jewish artists' work, and 46% said the same for Israeli artists. 1 Right · 2ADL Vice President Shira Goodman said the research shows a gap between perceived market risk and actual audience demand, and called the industry's risk aversion "a misperception, not a market reality". The ADL urges cultural institutions, museums, publishers, agents and venues to name antisemitism explicitly in their policies and DEI commitments, recognize Jewish American Heritage Month, resist identity-based pressure campaigns and increase recognition of Jewish artists. 1 2