Iconic Fontainebleau Miami Beach suing celebrity rabbi after viral video
MIAMI - The Fontainebleau Miami Beach is suing a well-known rabbi, accusing him of defaming the iconic hotel on social media while demanding a sizable donation to his charity.
It stems from a video of celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach being confronted by a hotel guest in the lobby nearly two years ago. According to the hotel's complaint, afterward, the rabbi sought compensation to "calm the outrage that would follow a social media campaign amplifying the video recording," according to Law.com.
According to the complaint, the hotel refused his request and the video went viral on social media.
The rabbi accused the hotel of allowing the guest to go on his antisemitic rant, which the hotel denied. He also went "on a multi-week assault" of the hotel and its staff, according to the complaint.
The suit claims Botach created AI videos of hotel personnel "purporting to show them celebrating antisemitism, comparing them to Nazi collaborators, falsely accusing them of banning Jews from the property," according to Law.com.
The hotel's complaint alleges that Boteach has encouraged his thousands of followers to boycott the hotel.
The rabbi is also accused of extortion. According to the complaint, he offered to drop his boycott campaign if a million dollars was donated to his charity World Values Network to fight antisemitism.