00:00So how long do we have to do this for?
00:01Well, we need to build up a very strong connection.
00:10Following the debut of the teaser trailer for Maestro,
00:13directed by and starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein,
00:16the legendary conductor and composer's children are defending the film against
00:20online charges of anti-Semitism. The criticism pertains to Cooper wearing a prosthetic nose
00:25to play Bernstein, who was Jewish. Twitter users were quick to call out
00:28the aesthetic choice, posting side-by-side photos of Cooper's Bernstein and his real-life
00:33counterpart, with some pointing out the prosthetic nose was larger than Bernstein's own.
00:37The online conversation has furthered the ongoing debate about who should be able to
00:41play Jewish roles, as Cooper is not Jewish. The conductor's children, Jamie, Alexander,
00:47and Nina Bernstein, released a joint statement in response to the criticism that reads, in part,
00:52it breaks our hearts to see any misrepresentations or misunderstandings of Cooper's efforts.
00:56They went on to say,
00:58Bradley chose to use makeup to amplify his resemblance,
01:00and we're perfectly fine with that. We're also certain that her dad would have been fine
01:04with it as well.
01:05They added,
01:06Any strident complaints around this issue strike us above all as disingenuous attempts to bring
01:11a successful person down a notch, a practice we observed all too often perpetrated on our own
01:15father.
01:16The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Cooper's reps for comment.
01:19Netflix, which is releasing Maestro, referred THR to the statement from Bernstein's children on the
01:24Leonard Bernstein Twitter account. For more on this story, go to THR.com. This is The Hollywood
01:29Reporter News.
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