Actor John Cusack apologized for tweeting an anti-Semitic cartoon and quotation after defending the post, then deleting it.
The image showed a blue Star of David above a hand pushing down on a group of people accompanied by a quote frequently misattributed to the philosopher Voltaire: "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize."
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Cusack added, "Follow the money." The quotation is a reworking of one from American white nationalist and Holocaust denier Kevin Alfred Strom.
Cusack initially defended the tweet against social media critics, accusing Israel of atrocities against Palestinians. He then blamed a "bot" for the post before deleting it.
"Made a mistake retweeting that – as I said – and sorry," he later tweeted.
New York Magazine writer Yashar Ali on Tuesday described the actor's post as "disgusting" on Twitter and questioned his excuse for posting it.
"A bot got you? You defended your posting of it in several quoted tweets before you deleted [it] … John Cusack repeatedly defended his tweet before deleting it. His 'bot' excuse is absurd," Ali tweeted.
