James Simon, a producer and former viral villain for tearing down posters of Israeli hostages is back in the spotlight—this time on the Great White Way. Simon, who was filmed using scissors to slice through a flyer of a kidnapped Jewish civilian days after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, is now a co-producer for the Broadway musical Operation Mincemeat.
The Upper West Side blog that first published the video sparked widespread outrage, landing Simon in the online Jew Hate Database. He later apologized, telling the New York Post he only removed the posters to “keep the city’s streets clean” and claimed he was enforcing Department of Sanitation rules. Despite the backlash, Simon’s Tony-nominated show—centered on a British deception mission during World War II—opened at the John Golden Theatre in March and runs through February.
Simon has since sought to rehabilitate his image. The outlet Infinite Sights ran a flattering April piece titled How James Simon Quietly Helped Shape Modern Broadway. Its writer, Travis Hutton, confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon that “most—95 percent—but not all of the Spotlight section are paid placements.”
Simon also co-produced The Marriage of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, calling it a “laugh-out-loud show” that highlights “Jewish celebrations, artistic genius, [and] what it meant to be in love then.”
