Click on just about any comments section about season three of Netflix’s “Nobody Wants This” and you’re guaranteed a bevy of negative comments. Is it because of how the show has portrayed Jewish women? What about how it’s depicted Judaism as a whole? Nope, those concerns are so last season.
It’s actually because of Hot Rabbi Noah Roklov himself: Adam Brody.
A few weeks ago, ahead of the season three premiere, Brody made comments about Israel and Palestine that made headlines, riled up a vocal swath of the Jewish community and has pulled focus from the return of the extremely popular show. But what did he say? Why? And how has the “Nobody Wants This” team responded?
Let’s get into it.
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What did Adam Brody say?
First, some context.
On Sept. 25, GQ published a profile of Adam Brody titled “The Celebrity Activism Slump Hasn’t Gotten to Adam Brody.” The article reported on Brody’s volunteering with a progressive organization called Swing Left. Brody has gone door-knocking in swing districts with Swing Left ahead of the 2026 United States midterm elections.
About halfway through the interview, Brody brought up “Israel-Gaza” as an example of a current event which “brought out some different beliefs [in Hollywood] that I was ignorant to, and then disheartened by.” The interviewer then proceeded to ask Brody if Israel-Gaza has come up when he’s door-knocked.
OK, OK. But what did Adam Brody actually say?
I’ll include the full exchange for transparency and clarity:
“A defining voter concern in the Democratic primaries has been candidates’ stance on Israel-Gaza, as you mentioned. How is that coming up in your messaging?
Truthfully, it hasn’t. I have spoken a lot about it privately. I haven’t spoken much about it publicly.
Would you care to speak about it publicly?
Put me down as thinking it’s a genocide. Put me down as wanting a free Palestine. It’s awful that it’s taken so much death and misery, but it does feel like it’s reaching a breaking point that it should have a while ago. I’m hopeful that another administration can really do some good and correct some of these policies that are helping that situation be as awful as it is.”
The parts that have particularly upset people include Brody using the word “genocide” and the phrase “free Palestine.”
Ah. OK. Anything else I should know about Adam Brody?
Adam Brody is Jewish and is best known for playing Jewish characters. (Seth Cohen on “The O.C.,” Seth Morris in “Fleishman Is In Trouble” and now Rabbi Noah Roklov.) Adam grew up in a mostly secular Jewish household. Still, he attended Hebrew school, had a bar mitzvah and celebrated Hanukkah with his family. (He also worked in a bagel shop in high school.)
Today, Brody identifies as “not religious” and “an atheist” but did research to play the role of Rabbi Roklov. This research included attending a Shabbat service and absorbing books, podcasts and documentaries. “As someone who barely got bar mitzvahed and retained nothing from it, I did feel a responsibility,” Brody said of his decision to play Rabbi Roklov in a 2024 New York Times profile.
“I knew very little about the religion, knew very little about the rituals, and knew very little about temple. And I knew very little about the history,” he acknowledged in a 2025 Actors on Actors Roundtable. “As I’ve come to understand it, Judaism is so much about history and this unbroken chain for thousands of years of ritual and people and migration, and that has been fascinating to learn and study.”
He also praised “Nobody Wants This” in the roundtable, saying, “Now is a particularly sensitive time for literally everyone, but certainly Jewish people. And I think this being a sort of safe, celebratory space for [the Jewish community] has been very well-received.”
Got it. So, what has the response been like to his comments?
Some have slammed Adam Brody for his comments and others have praised him, largely depending on their own political beliefs.
“calling it a genocide instead of a war… adam brody who radicalized you,” one X user said in a viral tweet. (They later clarified this was meant in a positive light.) “I actively remember people on stan twitter trying to call him a Zionist because he’s Jewish. I’m glad he’s taking a stance for what’s right,” another X user shared. “seth cohen we are so happy to have u back,” a third commented. Celebrities who praised Adam’s comments include Mark Ruffalo, Ms. Rachel and Sophia Bush.
Others in the pro-Palestine camp have questioned whether or not Adam Brody’s comments are sincere, given that they perceive him to have taken too long to call the situation a “genocide.”
Meanwhile, those who support Israel have called Adam Brody’s words “performative activism,” say that he is uninformed and are urging people to boycott “Nobody Wants This.”
“Adam Brody plays a rabbi on TV and in real life he plays a sheep,” author Samantha Ettus shared. “Saying [genocide] won’t protect Adam Brody, and it has never protected Jews,” Hen Mazzig posted on Instagram. “Put me down as a ‘good Jew.’ Mark me safe from the angry mob. Let me keep my career,” one X and Instagram user shared. “Adam Brody plays a rabbi on Nobody Wants This, while publicly calling Gaza a genocide. What a slap in the face to the Jewish people who supported his work,” another said.
Brody has received criticisms from both sides, however, for the perceived casual air of his delivery.
Has anyone from “Nobody Wants This” commented on Adam’s comments?
Rabbi Steve Leder, a former senior rabbi at Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles and a consultant on season one of the show, took to Instagram on Sept. 29 to bash Adam Brody. He called Brody’s words “truly shocking,” “flippant” and “disgusting.”
“You, by your own admission, are a relatively ignorant Jew, and your ignorance really showed the other day,” Leder addressed Brody. “If you’re going to use a word like ‘genocide,’ you ought to know what it means.” Leder then went on to share his own thoughts, that, “there is no genocide in Gaza.”
His comments section was almost unanimously supportive with commenters thanking him for speaking up and sharing their displeasure with Adam Brody. Podcaster Jonah Platt and writer Eve Barlow were among those in the comments.
Got it. What about people in the “Nobody Wants This” cast and creative team? Have any of them said anything?
As of publication, Erin Foster has not commented on the situation nor has anyone at Netflix.
Jewish actress Tovah Feldshuh, who plays Noah’s mother Bina in the show, has urged viewers to “remember you know where I stand.”
Where does Tovah Feldshuh stand?
Feldshuh has long been publicly supportive of Israel and active in championing Jewish causes. In an Oct. 20 Instagram post on Kveller which was inundated with commenters saying they would not watch “Nobody Wants This” season three because of Adam Brody, Feldshuh shared her own thoughts.
“Sweethearts, I understand your point of view, but remember you know where I stand,” she wrote. “Keep looking toward the light. We are a people who kiss books. We are people who illuminate the darkness. The pendulum will swing back and I know that we are on the correct side of historic fact and moral clarity and I’m so grateful for how awake all of you are. So grateful to be in your company.”
Tovah has also said that, “Adam Brody is a beloved colleague and I am speaking to him privately.” This comment came on an Oct. 21 Instagram reel from creator Lindsay Pinchuk which decried the other Jewish cast and creatives on “Nobody Wants This” for not publicly responding to Brody’s thoughts. In that same comment, Tovah reminded others of her stance.
“I am not silent, my darling I have made my point of view very clear,” she said. “Check out ‘being Jewish’ with Jonah Platt, which just came out, or my activities with Magen David Adom, Rabin Medical Center and 2nights ago in Los Angeles with letters, light and love in which I had the honor of participating with Gene Simmons, Sherry Lansing, Dustin Hoffman, John Voight, Rebecca De Mornay, and two survivors of the nova festival among other greats.”
She concluded, “Look at my Instagram I am fighting Global antisemitism that is the big fight. And I understand your concern I really do. Sending you blessings thank you for speaking out.”
At time of publication, no one else in the cast, main or otherwise, has publicly responded to the situation.
And has the show touched on Israel-Palestine at all?
No it hasn’t, and it likely won’t. In an Oct. 24, 2025 interview with The Free Press, “Nobody Wants This” creator Erin Foster said the show deliberately avoids politics. “We never say Israel or Palestine in the show, and that’s intentional because I think it would be a distraction and that this is just not the show to tell that story,” Foster explained. “We never even discuss the Holocaust.”
So… what does this all mean for “Nobody Wants This”?
It all depends on how season three fares in terms of reviews and viewership. Netflix has yet to announce whether “Nobody Wants This” has been renewed for a fourth season. If it is, only time will tell how this story continues to develop.
