Kids’ YouTube star Ms. Rachel broke down in tears while explaining how she accidentally ‘liked’ an antisemitic comment on one of her recent Instagram posts.
The now-deleted Instagram post from Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Accurso, was a screenshot from her notes app with text that read: ‘Free Palestine, Free Sudan, Free Congo, Free Iran.’
One comment on the post added ‘Free America from the Jews.’ In screenshots shared on social media, it’s apparent that the comment was liked by the author.
A fan of Accurso’s direct messaged her on Instagram telling her that she had liked the comment.
‘Hi rachel, just wanted to let you know there’s a comment under your latest post that says ‘free America from the Jews’ that says liked by the author. I’m sure that’s an accident so wanted to let you know,’ the person wrote.
Accurso responded: ‘Deleted – how horrible – oh wait let me check – I did delete one like that.’
‘Ya I believe I deleted that earlier right when I saw it! I hate antisemitism,’ she added.
Accurso, who is no stranger to being called an antisemite over her condemnation of Israel’s war in Gaza, then posted a tearful video further defending herself from the criticism.
‘So, I thought I deleted a comment and I accidentally hit “like and hide”, I don’t know how or why. I’ve accidentally liked comments before, it happens. I’m a human who makes mistakes,’ she said.
‘I would never agree with an antisemitic thing like the comment. We have Jewish family, a lot of my friends are Jewish. I delete antisemitic comments,’ she added.
‘I feel like we can’t be human anymore online. And I’m so sorry for the confusion it caused. I’m so sorry if anyone thought that I would ever agree with something so horrible and antisemitic like that. I don’t.
‘I want to say that it’s OK to be human and it’s OK to make mistakes and I’m old, so I am not as good with touching things online, I guess. I have liked things by accident before,’ the 43-year-old said.
Accurso’s educational videos for babies and toddlers have racked up hundreds of millions of views over the years.
Her focus on teaching children dovetails with her activism for disadvantaged kids around the world, including Palestinian children in Gaza.
Israel invaded the Gaza Strip after Hamas fighters attacked the country on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 Israeli civilians.
Accurso has long been against the Israel’s war in Gaza, which has led to 71,000 Palestinian deaths, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Accurso has long zeroed in on the toll the war has had on children, many of whom are remain acutely malnourished, according to a United Nations report from December.
‘Over 14,000 precious children have been un-alived in Gaza. Gaza has the largest number of child amputees in history. We can’t be silent about these kinds of conditions for children,’ she said in a video she posted to TikTok in December 2024.
In a video she posted to Instagram in May 2025, she shared a picture of an emaciated Palestinian child.
‘World leaders, please help this baby. Please look at her. Please, please look at her. Just, please look at her eyes for one minute,’ she said in the video. ‘If you just think about a baby you love, think about a baby you care so much for, there’s no way that we all don’t know that you can’t kill 15,000 kids.’
Pro-Israel advocacy groups argue she has pushed Hamas propaganda and has selective empathy, because she rarely focuses on Israeli victims.
Watchdog organization StopAntisemitism declared she was a finalist for who they thought was the ‘Antisemite of the Year.’
In late December, Accurso, who lives in Manhattan, was named to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s inaugural committee. Mamdani and Accurso are similarly critical of Israel.
This committee, comprised of over four dozen people, is responsible for organizing the inauguration party and giving Mamdani advice on his early policy agenda.
