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Robbie Williams: 'I would become a Jew if I didn't have to get snipped'
Pop star joked that circumcision put him off converting to his wife’s religion
February 28, 2023 13:02
Pop star joked that circumcision put him off converting to his wife’s religion
February 28, 2023 13:02Pop star Robbie Williams has spoken about his affinity for Judaism but suggested he was put off converting to his wife’s religion due to the requirement that he be circumcised.
The former Take That member, who married Turkish-American Jewish actress Ayda Field in 2010 and has spoken about the importance of making Jewish holidays with his family “It is important that we have a tribe,” he said.
“I feel more Jewish than I feel Catholic,” the Angels singer told Walla magazine that he observes Chanukah and Passover with his wife and their four children and that he even “considered conversion to Judaism”.
“I am a Catholic who has distanced himself from religion, and [Ayda] is a Jew who has distanced herself from religion – but it is important that we have a tribe. It’s important to have a sense of belonging,” he suggested.
After the interviewer noted that converting to Judaism as a male would involve a circumcision operation, Mr Williams made a tongue-in-cheek groan of anguish, saying: “‘No, no, no, I’ll just identify myself as a Jew.
"Please write that he said it with ‘a twinkle in his eye’ because this sentence can easily be taken out of context. I can just imagine the headlines: ‘Robbie Williams identifies as a Jew', “and suddenly I’m Sam Smith.
“Which is fine for Sam Smith. I identify as a Jew but I also identify as Cristiano Ronaldo!” he noted, apparently referring to the singer who identifies as non-binary and genderqueer.
Speaking to the Israel Hayom newspaper ahead of his scheduled appearance at the Summer in the City music festival set to take place in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park this June, the 49-year-old said he had faced calls to boycott performing in the Jewish state.
Anti-Israel activists have regularly urged artists to boycott performances in Israel, with Lorde and Lana Del Rey being among the musicians to make headlines for cancelling Israeli dates in recent years.