What to Know
If you have a toddler, there’s a high chance Ms. Rachel has basically helped raise your child. She’s the soothing voice that gets your kid to clap, talk, and stop screaming for five seconds so you can drink lukewarm coffee in peace. She’s the closest thing modern parents have to a co-parent who never judges you for using screen time.
Which is why the internet is currently having an absolute meltdown after Ms. Rachel (real name Rachel Accurso) issued a tearful apology for what she says was an accidental Instagram “like” on a comment that read: “Free America from the Jews.”
According to multiple outlets, the comment appeared under one of Ms. Rachel’s posts, and screenshots spread quickly after people noticed her verified account had liked it. Cue outrage, confusion, and the kind of online chaos that makes you wonder why we ever invented comment sections in the first place.
In response, Ms. Rachel posted a video apology where she looked visibly upset.
In her response, she said she was actually trying to delete the antisemitic comment — not endorse it — and accidentally hit “like” instead. She insisted she would never agree with something like that and said she regularly removes hate from her page.
She also stressed that she has Jewish family and friends, said she “hates antisemitism,” and apologized for the hurt and confusion. She framed the situation as a very human mistake — the kind of thing that can happen when you’re tapping too fast, scrolling too far, and honestly just trying to survive the internet like the rest of us.
“Obviously the like and hiding was just tapping and thought it was deleted,” she wrote in a caption alongside the screenshot. “This is from yesterday. People are allowed to make mistakes. I am super sorry for any confusion it caused.”
Ms. Rachel has previously been criticized for her outspoken posts about the war in Gaza.
She has been targeted by advocacy group StopAntisemitism for her activism in support of Palestinian children and families ravaged by the war.
“I delete antisemitism ANY time I see it,” she shared. “I am against all forms of hate including antisemitism against the Jewish people.” In a follow-up post on Threads, Accurso chalked the incident up to technical confusion and high emotions, ending her statement with: “I’m just not going to engage with comments or have them on.”
View on Threads
“I believe that all children have fundamental human rights and there’s never a reason to deny them of those rights,” Accurso told USA TODAY earlier this year. It’s so simple that when we take care of children and allow them to meet their full potential, that’s the right thing to do.”
