Noah Schnapp Faces New Wave of Backlash

Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp is facing a new wave of backlash after he was included in Forbes' 30 Under 30 list spotlighting the next generation of talent.

The 19-year-old Jewish-American actor, who plays Will Byers in the smash hit, has previously come under fire for his comments on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On October 7, Hamas launched an attack on Israel, which it said was retribution for worsening conditions for Palestinians under Israeli occupation. Israel declared war on Hamas and launched hundreds of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, followed by extensive ground operations. At least 1,200 people were killed in Israel, The Associated Press has reported, and more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Gaza, the AP says.

Schnapp faced cancellation calls when his initial statement on the Israel-Hamas conflict—which included the words "You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism"—caused furore. Then he was criticized when he was seen on social media posing with stickers reading "Zionism is Sexy" and "Hamas is Isis."

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Zionism as "an international movement originally for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine and later for the support of modern Israel."

Now people are questioning Schnapp's inclusion in the Forbes list, with some citing a lack of forthcoming projects for the actor. Others said they didn't understand why he was on the list but his co-stars on the Netflix show, such as Millie Bobby Brown, Sadie Sink and Finn Wolfhard, weren't included.

Newsweek reached out to a representative for Schnapp for comment via email Wednesday.

"Forbes has included Noah Schnapp in its list of 30 under 30: spotlighting the next generation of talent. The actor currently has no projects lined up besides Stranger Things season 5," the entertainment account Film Updates posted to X, formerly Twitter.

"If film updates called me jobless I'd never show my face again," someone replied.

"The system is rigged no way he should have been there with little to nothing other than Stranger Things s5 lined up lol," another person posted.

"Noah schnapp the z*onist lover???????? let's rework this list," a different social media user wrote.

"Putting noah schnapp on the same list as all of these beloved and extremely talented actors is laughable," said a fourth, before listing the likes of Jenna Ortega, Molly Gordon, Cailee Spaeny and others.

A fifth added: "I want someone to look me in the eye and tell me Noah Schnapp inclusion in that list wasn't absolutely deliberate. Hollywood loves zionists."

However, not everyone is unhappy with Schnapp's inclusion on the list.

"I mean Noah Schnapp accomplished all this before turning 19," one commenter wrote. "What have you done before 19? He has only been a legal adult for 1 year 4 months! A nineTEEN year old that is getting misinfo spread about like it's facts and has 1 million Twitter posts crucifying him in the past 3 wks."

"Still accomplished more than you. You all saying it as it's a bad thing lmao!!" another person posted to X. "Noah Schnapp was Will Byers is whole pre teen/teen life. He started filming ST when he was 10/11... apart from MBB the rest of the 'original kid' cast are all older Finn 21. Sadie 21 Caleb 22 Gaten 21."

The backlash against Schnapp has led the actor to lose fans on social media. According to the analytics website Social Blade, he has lost more than 547,000 Instagram followers in just 30 days, along with more than 15,000 on X.