Rabbi who coached Adam Brody for ‘Nobody Wants This’ calls him ‘relatively ignorant Jew’ after ‘genocide’ remark

The rabbi who coached Adam Brody for Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This” slammed him for saying that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Steve Leder, the former senior rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, served as a consultant on Judaism’s depiction for Season 1 of “Nobody Wants This,” a rom-com in which Brody plays a rabbi who falls for an agnostic, non-Jewish podcaster played by Kristen Bell. Leder denounced Brody for telling GQ in a recent interview , “Put me down as thinking it’s a genocide. Put me down as wanting a free Palestine.” Leder said in an Instagram video posted Wednesday that Brody’s statements were “truly shocking,” “flippant” and “disgusting,” asserting his own view that “there is no genocide in Gaza.” “You, by your own admission, are a relatively ignorant Jew, and your ignorance really showed the other day,” said Leder. “If you’re going to use a word like ‘genocide,’ you ought to know what it means.” Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms Leder appeared to be referring to Brody’s previous descriptions of his limited Jewish education. Brody has said he is an atheist who “barely got bar mitzvahed and retained nothing from it,” adding that he prepared for the role of Rabbi Noah Roklov in “Nobody Wants This” by attending a Shabbat service and working through books, podcasts and documentaries about Judaism. Brody has played other high-profile Jewish characters, including Seth Cohen in “The O.C.” and Seth Morris in “Fleishman Is in Trouble” before “Nobody Wants This,” which returns for a third season on October 22. Steve Leder, the senior rabbi of Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles, advised the series. (Courtesy) The show itself has conspicuously avoided the subject of Israel. “Nobody Wants This” creator Erin Foster — who converted to Judaism in Leder’s synagogue — told The Free Press last year that she made a deliberate choice not to deal with the issue. Advertisement “We never say Israel or Palestine in the show, and that’s intentional because I think it would be a distraction and that this is just not the show to tell that story,” said Foster. Brody told GQ that the Gaza war, alongside other national and global crises in recent years, revealed that he and his Hollywood peers were not as “like-minded” as he previously believed. “Between COVID, a second Trump term, Israel-Gaza, it’s really brought out some different beliefs that I was ignorant to, and then disheartened by,” he said. He added, after making the genocide accusation, “It’s awful that it’s taken so much death and misery, but it does feel like it’s reaching a breaking point that it should have a while ago. I’m hopeful that another administration can really do some good and correct some of these policies that are helping that situation be as awful as it is.” Adam Brody arrives at the premiere of ‘Billy & Billie’ at The Lot on February 25, 2015, in West Hollywood, California. (Rob Latour/Invision/AP) He did not specify what he meant by “another administration.” Israel’s closely fought election will take place on October 27. US midterm elections will take place a week later, with the Democratic Party expected to make gains in the US Congress. US President Donald Trump’s term ends in early 2029. The war in Gaza has divided the entertainment industry — and Jewish celebrities. While some — such as Jerry Seinfeld, Debra Messing, Gal Gadot and Amy Schumer — have voiced support for Israel since the Hamas onslaught on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war, other Jewish actors have been outspoken critics of Israel and have accused it of committing genocide in the territory, including Hannah Einbinder, Ilana Glazer and Wallace Shawn. Israel rejects the accusation. Help us report truthfully on social media As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos. This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. 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