I was looking forward to my zoom interview with Montana Tucker. I had heard about her and my kids were pretty impressed that I was actually going to have a talk with uber social media girl Montana.
Running through her many videos, productions, dances, and songs, Montana is the last person I would expect to see leading a documentary trip to Auschwitz.
"I cannot believe she is Jewish!" is something Montana hears a lot. She mentions this in the interview and says that she finds it frustrating. She wonders why people should be shocked by the fact that she is Jewish, and even called her grandfather Zeidy.
Montana is proud of her Jewish roots and the strong legacy that has been passed down through generations. She recalls how she grew up listening to stories from the Holocaust told by her grandmother, and the thought of going to visit those places where her grandparents survived and where so much suffering and destruction had taken place was very important for her. She felt she needed to connect, to go down the same path. She wanted to feel the pain inside her and through it connect to her soul.
Montana succeeded in filming a unique documentary of her trip to Poland and Auschwitz and heavily publicizing it on social media.
Although used to being filmed and working with a script, makeup, choreographed dancing, and singing suddenly shows a growing community of approximately eight million followers a different side of herself. She is not scared of declaring to the world that she is Jewish and proud.
In a world of fake media and social media kingdoms, where influencers become small G-ds to their followers and have million-dollar contracts keeping them tied to their sponsors and image, Montana smashed the glass ceiling of this fragile world and went against the current. Miraculously, when Kanye West was coming out with his "Death Con on Jews" warning, Montana was already busy editing her docu-series on her trip to Auschwitz. Just as people were getting over the shocking antisemitic statements of big influencers, Montana silently but firmly released the series to the internet.
Her move was perfectly timed, and her message was so strong and powerful. She sought to educate her followers instead of inspiring hate. Montana ignored the incitement and showed maturity and wiseness by simply reminding her complicated social media world what Jews went through in the Holocaust. Tucker knew that posting for a few weeks straight only her docu on Auschwitz on her social media could be damaging for her, her image, and her career but as she made up her mind she went strong and courageous with this and ignored all the hate messages aimed at her.
"Only incredible things have come out from this", Montana tells me, she seems so proud of what she has done and all the people she has touched and inspired with her story, her courage, and her faith. With the looks of a Hollywood star, Montana surprised me positively until the end of our conversation, I was literally overwhelmed by her being so wise and still young and famous.
Thank you Montana for fighting antisemitism so publicly, and in such a powerful way by educating and inspiring instead of responding with violence and hate, you are a true leader. Hope you all enjoy this interview and looking forward to having Montana here in Jerusalem at our studio.