A Mayfield Heights business owner’s video posted on TikTok and espousing that a Jewish elite controls the world has been condemned by the chair of the community relations committee of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.
Gregg Levine told the Cleveland Jewish News on June 30 that “this is vile, disgusting and dangerous antisemitism right here in our own community, where many of us live and work and shop.”
He said the video was “especially concerning as it is so easily and falsely spread on social media,” he wrote. “Twitter, Tic Tok (sic) and other forms of social media make the spewing of this hatred, this blatant antisemitism grow exponentially.”
The video garnered 81,000 views as of June 30 after it was reposted by a group that exposes antisemites on its Twitter account. The June 25 posting at StopAntisemitism.org's Twitter account contains the video showing a woman in an automobile talking to the camera.
It is prefaced with the following words: “CONTENT WARNING – Cleveland, OH hairdresser Jenny Rose (owner of Jenny Rose Luxury Hair) goes on vile antisemitic rant on @tiktok_us to her over 69k followers.”
Liora Rez, founder and executive director of StopAntisemitism, identified the woman as Jenny Pace, owner of Jenny Rose Luxury Hair Salon, on Mayfield Road in Mayfield Heights and part of a MY SALON Suite.
“The people that are in charge of the entire world, and these people are not what they say that they are,” the woman tells the camera. “These people are the high, high, high power, the elites that run the world. They claim to be Jews. And I’m just going to say that they are not what they claim. Their god is not the same god as you and I, and they want you to think it is. I very, very much encourage you to look deep into this.”
She showed a bag of M&Ms and pointed to the O-U symbol or heksher, indicating its kosher status.
“Every single dollar that you spend goes to these elites,” she said. “Look it up because you will find the truth, and it’s a very evil truth.”
StopAntisemitism’s post gathered comment on online message boards.
In addition, it garnered interest on 4Chan’s politically incorrect or /pol/ board, where posters added their own antisemitic remarks.
Rez said the video was submitted to StopAntisemitism via Instagram.
“And very shortly after we had posted it, I believe her social media channels were changed,” Rez said. “Various things were deleted and so forth.”
Christine Bachman, director of content and communications for Propelled Brands of Carrollton, Texas, responded to a CJN inquiry for comment on June 30.
Propelled Brands is the franchise organization of MY SALON Suite.
“The franchises are independently owned and operated,” Bachman wrote in an email to the CJN. “The members (tenants) of the My Salon Suite are independent business owners.
“Upon receiving your call, we immediately reached out to the franchisee and found that, starting Monday of this week, the situation was already being addressed. The franchisee asked the member to take down the video and is handling this matter internally with the member. The franchisee also sent a message to all members at the location that this type of behavior does not align with the company’s values. My Salon Suite follows FLAIR core values that are intended to provide a safe and secure place for beauty professionals to own and operate their business. FLAIR stands for Fun, Loving, Creatively Inspired Entrepreneurs. Our goal is to create a thriving and connected community of entrepreneurs.”
In a separate video on TikTok, the woman, whose account name is jennyrosep13, said she was raised Catholic, which she described as “culty.”
However, “She’s claiming she’s Jewish, as many antisemites do once they are exposed,” Rez said. “That’s not an uncommon practice.”
Rez said StopAntisemitism took an interest in the video because of her audience of 69,000 viewers.
“So this is very concerning that when you and I and the average citizen takes a look at (it), whether we laugh or we laugh in disgust, and we say this is completely false,” Rez said. “She’s influencing young minds again, because the average user is under 25. On TikTok with this antisemitic nonsense.”
The woman established a backup account under the name Jennyrosespace13. In a video at that account, she said, “This page is for when I’m not able to go live on my main account, when I’m being shadow-banned like I am currently, when my videos aren’t doing too well and all that.”
No one returned a telephone call from Jenny Rose Luxury Hair Salon on June 30.
Levine, who is a member of the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company Board of Directors, addressed the issue in light of the growing number of antisemitic incidents documented in recent months and years.
“We continue to see growing antisemitism around the world, in our country and sadly in our own community,” Levine wrote. “It is unacceptable and just plain heartbreaking that so many in our community are scared to be Jewish in 2022. It is critical to call out these conspiracy theories, to fight antisemitism and all forms of hatred as soon as they are discovered.”