MANHATTAN, NEW YORK: Kurush Mistry, a Wall Street banker, has issued an apology for his offensive antisemitic remarks directed at a Jewish man, reported Daily Mail. He also expressed regret for his involvement in covering up posters of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.
Mistry and Shailja Gupta faced severe backlash after a two-minute video, recorded on November 9, surfaced online, showing the couple confronting a Jewish man at 68th Street and Riverside Boulevard. They got into an argument with the man when he questioned the couple's actions.
As the video went viral, Mistry was fired from his job.
Since the Israel-Hamas war started on October 7, the country has seen a rise in antisemitic incidents.
Who is Kurush Mistry?
Mistry and his wife are of Indian origin. According to his LinkedIn profile (which is no longer available) shared by journalist Andy Ngo X, Mistry was an oil analyst at Freepoint Commodities, a Stamford, Ct-based company. He has been employed there since 2014.
The firm released a statement announcing his removal, "We are aware of the recent antisemitic incident reported on social media, and the individual involved is no longer associated with Freepoint." Mistry is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
According to a New York Post report, Mistry and his wife live in a luxury apartment building in New York with amenities like a Pilates studio, a steam room, and a large, heated indoor pool
Kurush Mistry and his wife issued an apology statement
Mistry and his wife acknowledged their mistake after a torrent of backlash. They have retained the PR firm Reputation Doctor LLC and issued the apology statement through them.
"After taking time to contemplate and reflect on our recent actions, we want to send our sincerest apologies to the Jewish gentleman we yelled at, gestured to, and said unkind things to, as well as apologize to the global Jewish community for our recent actions in NYC," the couple said.
"Our behavior was simply unacceptable, and we are ashamed of our actions and words. We hope to have the opportunity in the near future to speak to the gentleman personally and apologize directly to him."
Mistry and Gupta said they "never supported Hamas," and it is their "first time engaging in civic protest."
They also revealed they had received violent threats after the video went viral, and the incident has helped them to learn a "valuable lesson about the need to love all as brothers and sisters instead of highlighting disagreements and causing more pain."
In the viral video, Mistry can be seen covering the posters on a lamppost with flyers stating, "Israel is an apartheid state and commits genocide."
Gupta was seen alongside when a Jewish man approached him and asked, "What's your name, sir? You must be very proud." The couple responded by sticking up their middle finger at the man, to which he replied, "Very proud."
Mistry also shouted at the man, asking him to return to his country. "Go live in Israel … go back to your country!" he said. Gupta, too, humiliated him calling him an "uneducated prick" and referring to the Israelis as "rapists."
