Steven Spielberg was bullied as a kid? (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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Yep, you read that right—Steven Spielberg, one of the most celebrated filmmakers of all time, was bullied for being Jewish. Crazy, right? The man who gave us E.T., Schindler’s List, and countless other iconic films wasn’t immune to the sting of hate growing up. Spielberg himself recently opened up about how those experiences shaped him.
Speaking candidly, Spielberg recalled moving to Westin, where he encountered anti-Semitism for the first time. “Being Jewish and being raised additionally in the area where there weren’t a lot of Jews… I moved to Westin, and I encountered anti-Semitism as an elementary school student,” he said. At first, he didn’t even recognize it for what it was. “I didn’t think of it as hate but thought of it as a shame,” Spielberg explained. It wasn’t just a casual jab here and there—it was real bullying. “They managed with enough chiding and bullying to make me feel ashamed of being Jewish.”
For Spielberg, the bullying didn’t just sting—it left a scar. He grew up feeling like an outcast, isolated from his peers. And as a kid, that feeling was even more profound. “I felt pretty much like an outcast,” he admitted. It wasn’t until much later that he fully understood the damage of those early experiences. “I realized bullying is a very pervasive tool to make other people feel like they are empowered,” he said, adding that it was the “power trips” of others that made him feel small.
Despite the painful memories, Spielberg reflected pride in his heritage. “It’s something that I had no control over and something that inside me, I have always been very proud of—to be a Jew,” he said. That pride eventually fueled much of his later work, particularly his exploration of hate and its devastating effects.
As fate would have it, Spielberg would partner with director Alex Gibney for Why We Hate, a powerful Discovery Channel series delving deep into the emotion of hate. Spielberg’s experience with hate adds a raw, fundamental layer to the show. He shared one of the most moving insights from the series, where he talked about the “banality of evil” and how hatred can be normalized to the point where atrocities like the Holocaust can seem routine. “It was a business of death,” Spielberg reflected, recalling how the Holocaust was carried out with the same efficiency as a factory assembly line.
What Spielberg hopes viewers take away from the series is the simple yet powerful message that hate can never be normalized. “I would love that every episode ends with hope,” he said, emphasizing that the show isn’t just about condemning hatred. “There is a middle ground,” he pointed out. “I hope that people will see that the middle ground just happens to be about one thing—creating conversations.” These conversations, Spielberg believes, can unite us by focusing on what we share, not what divides us.
In a world where hate often feels insurmountable, Spielberg’s journey from bullied outsider to global icon proves that hope and dialogue are powerful tools for change. The message of Why We Hate is clear: let’s talk, share our stories, and understand each other before the hate takes over.
