Shmuley Boteach, a popular celebrity rabbi filed a complaint with the FBI against Candace Owens on Monday, a controversial figure in conservative media after she seemingly accused him and his daughter of trying to kill her.
“Please let me immediately advise you of a new threat against me and my family, including my daughter Rochel Leah, also a Jewish public figure,” Boteach wrote.
“Yesterday, before more than one million people in a live X feed,” who he called, “arch antisemites,” Candace Owens, “arguably the foremost female Jew-hater in America, accused me of trying to murder her, in collaboration with the world’s Zionists, thereby putting a national target on my back and naming me specifically from all American Jewish leaders,” Boteach wrote to the FBI.
“I need not impress upon you the serious danger that a Jew-hater with a national following places on a defenseless rabbi when she tells her followers that the rabbi is a murderer and plans to have her killed. This is the ultimate blood libel, that Jews are killers and people must therefore kill the Jews first, before they strike,” he wrote in detail.
According to Boteach, Owens, months ago, “insinuated that I killed Michael Jackson. Two days ago, to her 5.5 million X followers, she said that Michael Jackson put me on a list of Jews who were seeking to destroy his life. She outright said that my daughter and I are ‘lying and smearing and libeling and killing.’”
In a video on Sunday, Owens claims that a “Zionist media empire” is shielding criminals and protecting what she describes as a criminal syndicate.
Owens’ rant included several inflammatory statements, such as: “We are existing right now in a Zionist media empire which is working to protect criminals.” She went on to link this so-called syndicate to blackmail and coercion, referencing Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger, which recounts alleged Hollywood scandals from the 1900s to the 1950s.
Owens then zeroed in on Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, questioning whether anyone truly believes he is a victim. “Is anyone buying that Rabbi Shmuley is a victim and not a thug that goes around threatening people’s lives?” she asked.
Owens also dredged up claims made by Michael Jackson. She implied that Jackson’s allegations were not merely antisemitic outbursts but had some basis, especially in light of her own experiences: “Is anyone buying that Michael Jackson was really just being antisemitic when he said that Rabbi Shmuley was on a list of six Jews in Hollywood that were trying to ruin his life?”
Owens blames the family for her being fired
The video also accused Rabbi Shmuley and his daughter, Rochel Leah Taktuk, of conducting a two-year harassment campaign against Owens, which she claims led to her being fired from The Daily Wire. “Even when they’re lying and smearing and libeling and killing, they’re victims. Is anyone buying this shit anymore?” Owens concluded, expressing her frustration with what she perceives as a double standard.
Owens’ outburst is part of a troubling trend in her rhetoric over the past year. She has increasingly aligned herself with far-right ideologies and conspiracy theories, previously causing a stir with comments endorsing antisemitic tropes, such as the claim that Jews drink Christian blood. These remarks, along with her harsh criticisms of Israel following the October 7 Hamas attacks, ultimately led to her dismissal from The Daily Wire.
Taktuk told The Jerusalem Post: “Candace Owens lies through her teeth every day, to millions of people – that we Jews kill Catholics on Passover, that we Jews are inherently pedophilic, that we control Hollywood and murder black entertainers, that Zionism is satanic and devilish.”
She added that Owens did say one thing that was true: “I went after her and attacked her ruthlessly for two years straight. I watched as she encouraged, defended, and championed Kanye West for two years as he said that we Jews ‘milk black people until they die,’ that he loves Hitler and Hitler ‘did some good things too.’ In those two years I taught her a lesson she’ll never forget: If you endanger Jewish lives, the Boteachs will come after you.”
“Ben Shapiro defended her, Dennis Prager defended her. It was only myself and my father that showed her; Jews are done being threatened.”
As reported by the Post in March, Owens and Boteach were embroiled in a public feud involving accusations of antisemitism, blackmail, and controversy surrounding West. The dispute intensified when Boteach criticized Owens for not condemning West’s antisemitic remarks, leading Owens to claim that Boteach and his daughter had harassed her for years. Owens further accused Boteach of threatening her with public defamation and linked him to a broader narrative involving alleged blackmail rings in Hollywood. In response, Boteach has considered a libel lawsuit against Owens, accusing her of promoting dangerous conspiracy theories and spreading antisemitic rhetoric.
Michael Starr contributed to the report.