A Jewish comedian from Brooklyn became the unwitting star of an international controversy when tens of millions of people watched footage supposedly showing him declare, “I support Israel” and emptying a Chicago comedy club — except none of it happened.
Now-embattled comic Menachem Silverstein and a show producer told The Post that not only was the statement was never made and no one walked out in disgust — but the comedian wasn’t even at last week’s event.
Silverstein, 31, was instead offline observing Rosh Hashanah in Los Angeles when the bizarre story began racing around the world.
“I turned my phone on after Rosh Hashanah, and I had over 40 messages from people being like, ‘What the hell is this? Is this you? What’s happening?’ ” recalled Silverstein, a father of two with a third child on the way.
The controversial viral clip was filmed at the Laugh Factory in Chicago and shows the crowd suddenly leave with a comic still on stage.
The performer was comedian Kieron Harrell, who was appearing in the Laugh Factory’s aptly named prank show “What Could Go Wrong?”
Harrell never uttered the reported “I support Israel” statement, his producer told The Post, citing full footage of the event.
The crowd also did not walk out because it was supposedly offended.
As part of the gag, Harrell was blindfolded and given headphones — while the audience was secretly ushered out, leaving him performing to an empty room when he took off the blindfold — giving the impression in some of posted footage that the room cleared over a pro-Israel comment that was supposedly uttered.
“There isn’t a single element that was true,” Silverstein said of the reports. “I wasn’t there. The comedian didn’t say anything about Israel. The audience didn’t walk out because they were offended.
“The entire thing is fake.”
Silverstein said he believes Al Jazeera English was the first news outlet to falsely identify him as the performer and say he made the statement at the show and that the audience walked. The story was later removed, but Arabic-language Al Jazeera stories naming him remained online Saturday, he said.
One of the outlet’s stories even included an actual old Silverstein joke as background: “My name is Menachem Silverstein. I stand with Israel. Not politically, they’re just the only people who can pronounce my name.”
An X account called “Truthseeker” meanwhile posted some video of the bit identifying the performer as Silverstein and claiming he had told the audience, “My name is Menachem, and I support Israel.”
That post racked up more than 2 million views, while versions of the supposed pro-Israel walkout spread across X, Instagram and Facebook.
Dan Kass, who produces the prank show, told The Post the walkout was planned in advance as part of the blindfold bit and that the show’s four cameras captured the entire stunt. He said an audience member apparently filmed the crowd leaving and posted the footage without the producers’ knowledge.
“We have all the footage. Nothing was ever mentioned about Israel,” Kass said. “I was in shock that I had to explain to people, ‘No, I run this show. I was there. This was not the case.’ “
Silverstein added, “I haven’t been to the Chicago Laugh Factory since May.
“I looked at the video and the person is clearly not me. It was just bizarre. It literally had nothing to do with me.”
Other international outlets, including India’s The Print and Iran’s Press TV, also reported versions of the false account as the story continued ricocheting around social media.
Then Alex Jones got involved.
“This is a comedian, Mr. Silverstein, Menachem Silverstein, says, ‘I support Israel,’ and literally 99% of people get up in a full house and leave instantly,” disgraced Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones told his audience while discussing the clip.
Silverstein said AI search tools made matters worse. When users asked Grok to identify the comedian, he said it named him and even supplied his old Israel joke as the supposed line that sparked the walkout.
He said his Instagram inbox became flooded with abuse.
“ ‘Free Palestine, ‘F–k you Jew’ — every kind of ridiculous DM,” Silverstein said he was bombarded with.
For Silverstein, a Crown Heights native who has been doing stand-up for nine years, the potentially devastating career consequences linger.
He was preparing to approach clubs about his next tour but now worries that bookers who search his name will encounter stories claiming he “walked a crowd” — jargon for driving an audience from the room.
“I’m not going to be reaching out to any clubs until I either get this fully sorted or have enough positive press to explain why that would even come up,” he said.
He said the episode did deliver one particularly strange punchline: He had spent Rosh Hashanah praying for a career boost.
“I’ve spent eight years trying to go viral,” he said jokingly. “Apparently the secret was not showing up.”
But the punchline is no laughing matter,” Silverstein said.
He said the episode reflects what he sees as a growing willingness to target Jews simply over a perceived connection to Israel.
“It started off with people demonizing Israel and demonizing Zionism,” he said. “Now it seems like it can be used to demonize any Jew whatsoever for a potential association with Israel, without even any sort of proof.”
Neither Al Jazeera nor Alex Jones responded to Post requests for comment.
