Alicia Keys deleted an Instagram post that mentioned “paragliding” after the post triggered intense reactions from her followers.
Alicia posted a picture of herself wearing a green leather jacket with the caption, “What would you do if u weren’t afraid of anything??? Tell me your truth… I’ve had my eyes on paragliding.”
Some of Alicia’s followers said the post was insensitive amid the conflict in the Middle East. Many fans said that the word paragliders was triggering since Hamas militants used paragliders to invade Israel in the early morning attack on October 7.
Alicia edited the post to remove the sentence containing the word “paragliding.”
Some Instagram users also accused Alicia of wearing a green jacket to show solidarity with Hamas and Palestine.
Keys deleted her Instagram post following the backlash on Monday. She later posted a short comment in her Instagram Stories.
“The post I shared was COMPLETELY unrelated in any way to the recent devastating loss of innocent lives. My heart has been breaking… I pray for and stand for peace.”
Black America we were standing solidarity with our sister, Alicia Keys. A racist white nationalist/Karen/Zionist trying to endanger her life. My claiming that she’s a supporter of terrorism,. And anyone knows her is one of the most beautiful soul there is pic.twitter.com/VWz9tTfp6E
— Don Salmon (@dijoni) October 17, 2023
Alicia was also heavily criticized for performing in Israel in 2013. In response to an open letter from The Color Purple author Alice Walker asking her not to perform in Tel Aviv, Alicia said, “I look forward to my first visit to Israel. Music is a universal language that is meant to unify audiences in peace and love, and that is the spirit of our show.”
Israeli-American talent manager Guy Oseary defended Alicia in a post on Instagram.
“There’s talk of an antisemitic post that my dear friend Alicia Keys had up on her Instagram,” he wrote. “I can confirm to anyone in my community that needs to hear it: it’s NOT true.
Alicia’s husband, music producer Swizz Beatz, real name Kasseem Dean, is Muslim. “I have no bosses. Only Allah, The Most High is my boss. That’s it,” Swizz said in 2013.
