Photo editor Mohammed Elshamy resigned from CNN on Thursday evening after his old tweets disparaging Jewish people were resurfaced.
A 2011 tweet from Elshamy said, “More than 4 jewish pigs killed in #Jerusalem today by the Palestinian bomb explode.”
Others referred to a “sh–y Jewish idiot” being acquired by Premier League soccer team Arsenal and “rulers who lick Jewish legs.”
Elshamy’s verified Twitter account is now private. A CNN spokesperson confirmed to TheWrap that the network accepted Elshamy’s resignation “after anti-Semitic statements he’d made in 2011 came to light.”
“CNN is committed to maintaining a workplace in which every employee feels safe, secure and free from discrimination regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion,” the network said in a statement.
The tweets were initially highlighted by Arthur Schwartz, a GOP operative known for his relationships with key administration players like Donald Trump, Jr., and Anthony Scaramucci. He told TheWrap on Friday that Elshamy’s tweets were initially found by “an oppo team that works for a group of President Trump’s supporters outside the administration.”
This isn’t the first time Schwartz has been in the middle of an incident involving old, inappropriate tweets from CNN employees. In 2017, he tweeted screenshots of White House reporter Kaitlan Collins using the word “fag” and joking about not wanting to live with a lesbian in 2011. She apologized and is still employed by the company.
Schwartz himself has had to apologize for tweets, too. In 2017, he tweeted an accusation that President Trump’s recently resigned Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was having an extramarital affair. He later deleted the tweet and wrote that he was embarrassed, but Priebus had accepted his apology.
Schwartz said he thinks it is “disgusting” Elshamy was able to resign instead of being fired.
In a statement he provided to TheWrap, Elshamy called his comments “offensive and hateful.”
“I want to unequivocally express my apology to everyone, especially those in the Jewish community, who were offended by the tweets. I also want to apologize to my family, friends, and mentors who I am ashamed to have let down in this way,” he said.
Elshamy said he no longer holds the same views expressed in the tweets he posted as a teen. He then thanked “everyone at CNN … for the opportunity they gave [him].”