Montana Tucker

Last updated

Montana Tucker
Montana Tucker 2.jpg
Tucker at the premiere of the film Step Up 2 The Streets
Background information
Born (1993-01-18) January 18, 1993 (age 31)
Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.
Occupations
  • songwriter
  • singer
  • dancer
  • actress
Years active2001present
Labels
Website montanatucker.com

Montana Tucker is an American dancer, singer, and social media activist recognised for her efforts to educate younger people about the Holocaust, Israel and antisemitism. [1] As of 2024, Tucker's online presence reportedly included a following of over 9 million followers on TikTok and 3.1 million followers on Instagram. [2] Tucker uses her platform to address social issues such as body image, anti-bullying, advocating for Israel, speaking out against Antisemitism, and the importance of Holocaust remembrance. Her interest in Holocaust education stems from her family history; her grandparents, Lilly and Michael Schmidmayer, survived Auschwitz and their stories were documented by the USC Shoah Foundation to preserve Holocaust memory and awareness. [3] [4] Tucker has reported losing masses of online followers due to the shift in her content to actively supporting Israel, but argues the need for education to counter antisemitism and ensure the preservation of Holocaust memory. [3] [5] [6]

Contents

Early life

Tucker was born in Boca Raton, Florida. She is Jewish, and the granddaughter of Lilly and Michael Schmidmayer, both Holocaust survivors. Tucker has praised her grandmother who has been living with Alzheimer's disease for years, saying, "My grandma is a Holocaust survivor. I think that's where I've got my hard work-ethic and the mentality to never give up from." [7] Her grandfather died at the age of 97 in 2019.

As a child, Tucker always enjoyed dancing and performing, so she went to one of Darrin Henson’s workshops in Orlando, FL. Henson recommended moving to New York City or Los Angeles. Eventually, Tucker's mother and manager, Michelle Tucker, opened up a hip-hop dance company called Pop Stars where she received training by Dave Scott, Shane Sparks, Wade Robson, and others. Tucker also took singing lessons from Betty Wright. [7] [8]

Career

When Tucker was 8, she began modeling and appeared in music videos, tv shows including Barney & Friends, [9] E-Venture Kids, with Ariana Grande, and commercials including for Ovaltine, Skechers, BMW, and Wendy's. [7]

At 11 years old, Tucker won the World Hip Hop Dance Championship. [7]

When she was 13, Tucker was a featured backup dancer for Ashanti and Ashlee Simpson.

At age 14, Tucker had her first public performance which was at the 2007 Super Bowl Pre Game. [10]

In 2023, Tucker appeared on the film Holiday Twist where she played the character "Cheryl". [11] [12] She also appears on the soundtrack for the 2021 film Step Up 2: The Streets . [13]

Advocacy

In June 2022, Tucker visited Auschwitz with her mother to honor her family's legacy and document her experiences in a TikTok series, How To: Never Forget. The series, viewed over seven million times, was later adapted into a documentary, aimed at engaging younger audiences. [3]

In April 2023, Tucker was invited to the White House to do an interview with Doug Emhoff. [14]

In June 2023, Tucker emceed the 75th Anniversary of Israel reception which was put on by Michael Herzog, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States . [15]

Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Tucker actively joined efforts advocating for Israel and speaking out against Antisemitism and hate. [16]

In November 2023, Tucker addressed nearly 300,000 supporters of Israel at March for Israel. [17]

In 2024, Tucker released a video of her performing with survivors of the Nova music festival massacre, together with the Lilach Friedman's Dance Ensemble. The video was filmed at the site of the massacre. [18]

Tucker produced a documentary titled "The Children of October 7" in which she interviews seven of the young victims of the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel. [19] One of the victims interviewed was Eitan Yahalomi who was abducted by Hamas and released in the 2023 exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Another victim interviewed was Rotem Mathias who was saved from the Hamas terrorists by hiding under his mother's dead body. On 2 December 2024, the film which was produced by Asaf Becker, premiered at the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem and was attended by Israel's President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog. [20] [21]

2024 Grammy Awards

Tucker made headlines when she wore a dress at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards adorned with a large yellow ribbon with the words “Bring Them Home” embroidered on it, relating to the Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. [22] [23] The dress was designed by Ortal, an Israeli designer based in Los Angeles. Tucker said that Grammy's Directors asked her to change because they considered the dress to be political, but she refused to do so. [8]

Awards

Tucker has been recognised with awards from FIDF, [24] IAC, Magen David Adom, [25] and WIZO. [26] Hatzalah honored Tucker for her continued work in helping Israel. [27] Montana received special recognition from New York City Mayor Eric Adams. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah Lipstadt</span> American diplomat and Holocaust historian (born 1947)

Deborah Esther Lipstadt is an American historian and diplomat, best known as author of the books Denying the Holocaust (1993), History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier (2005), The Eichmann Trial (2011), and Antisemitism: Here and Now (2019). She has served as the United States Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism since May 3, 2022. Since 1993 she has been the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March of the Living</span> Annual international Holocaust education and remembrance program

The March of the Living is an annual educational program which brings students from around the world to Poland, where they explore the remnants of the Holocaust. On Holocaust Memorial Day observed in the Jewish calendar, thousands of participants march silently from Auschwitz to Birkenau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Herzog</span> President of Israel since 2021

Isaac "Bougie" Herzog is an Israeli politician who has been serving since 2021 as the 11th president of Israel. He is the first president to be born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence.

Holocaust trivialization refers to any comparison or analogy that diminishes the scale and severity of the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. The Wiesel Commission defined trivialization as the abusive use of comparisons with the aim of minimizing the Holocaust and banalizing its atrocities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Gottheimer</span> American politician (born 1975)

Joshua S. Gottheimer is an American politician, attorney, writer, and public policy adviser who has served as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 5th congressional district since 2017. The district stretches along the northern border of the state from New York City's densely populated metropolitan suburbs in Bergen County northwest through exurban and rural territory in northern Passaic and Sussex Counties.

Belgium is a European country with a Jewish population of approximately 35,000 out of a total population of about 11.4 million. It is among the countries experiencing an increase in both antisemitic attitudes and in physical attacks on Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TikTok</span> Video-focused social media platform

TikTok, whose mainland Chinese and Hong Kong counterpart is Douyin, is a short-form video hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from three seconds to 60 minutes. It can be accessed with a smart phone app or the web.

Antisemitism is a growing problem in 21st-century Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Summer Lee</span> American politician (born 1987)

Summer Lynn Lee is an American politician who is the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district since 2023. Lee was the Democratic nominee in the 2022 election to represent Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. She won the primary by less than 1% of the vote and became the first black woman from Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives after winning the general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alma Hernandez</span> American politician

Alma Hernandez is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Arizona House of Representatives for the 20th district. Hernandez was elected in 2018 to succeed Macario Saldate, who was term-limited. She was the youngest woman elected to the Arizona House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Ebert</span> Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor (1923–2024)

Lily Ebert was a British writer and Holocaust survivor, who in her later life became notable for her memoir, and social media videos and media appearances documenting her life as a survivor of the genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dov Forman</span> English-born author and social media star (born 2003)

Dov Forman is an English author, spokesperson and social media creator.

Gidon Lev is a Czechoslovakian-born Israeli dairy farmer and Holocaust survivor who was interned at the Nazi ghetto of Theresienstadt between the ages of 6 and 10. Of the 9,000 children imprisoned in or transported through Theresienstadt concentration camp, he is one of the more than 2,000 children estimated to have survived.

Amit Elor is an American freestyle wrestler who has claimed Olympic (2024) and world gold medals. She competes at 68 kilograms. She has won eight world championships, and has been a cadet, junior, and senior world champion. She won the senior world championships in both 2022 and 2023. Going into the 2024 Olympics, she had not lost an international match, in any age group, since 2019, as she compiled a 37-0 record and outscored her opponents by a margin of 322-16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kidnapping of Noa Argamani</span> Israeli hostage taken by Hamas in 2023

On 7 October 2023, Noa Argamani, an Israeli woman, was abducted by Hamas during the Re'im music festival massacre, part of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. In one of the first Hamas videos released of the massacre, she was seen being taken away on a motorcycle as she yelled, "Don't kill me!" Her arms were outstretched toward her boyfriend Avinatan Or, who was also kidnapped. The footage of her kidnapping became a symbol of the hostage crisis and led to Argamani being described as "the face of the Nova music festival hostages".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March for Israel</span> 2023 demonstration in Washington, D.C., U.S.

The March for Israel was a pro-Israel demonstration that took place at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on November 14, 2023. The rally was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (CoP) and the Jewish Federations of North America in solidarity with Israel during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.

As part of the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, 23-year-old American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin was wounded and abducted by Hamas during the Re'im music festival massacre. He was held hostage for almost 11 months, until his body was recovered from a tunnel in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on 31 August 2024.

Antisemitism on social media can manifest in various forms such as emojis, GIFs, memes, comments, and reactions to content. Studies have categorized antisemitic discourse into different types: hate speech, calls for violence, dehumanization, conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.

Since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which initiated the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, there has been a spread of conspiracy theories, largely on social media, focused on the argument that the attacks or elements of the attacks were falsified or exaggerated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act</span> United States legislation

The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) is an act of Congress that was signed into law on April 24, 2024, as part of Public Law 118-50. It would ban social networking services within 270 to 360 days if they are determined by the president of the United States and relevant provisions to be a "foreign adversary controlled application"; the definition covers websites and application software, including mobile apps. The act explicitly applies to ByteDance Ltd. and its subsidiaries—including TikTok—without the need for additional determination. It ceases to be applicable if the foreign adversary controlled application is divested and no longer considered to be controlled by a foreign adversary of the United States.

References

  1. Hostein, L. (2024). "Montana Tucker on Fighting Israel’s Digital War". Hadassah Magazine. August 2024. Accessed November 25, 2024.
  2. Beck, Robyn (February 4, 2024). "Montana Tucker Puts Yellow Ribbon for Israeli Hostages Front and Center on Her Grammys Look". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Eldor, K. (2023). "TikTok Star Montana Tucker Is Bringing Holocaust Awareness To A Younger Generation". Forbes. April 18, 2023. Accessed November 25, 2024.
  4. "USC Shoah Foundation Institute testimony of Michael Schmidmayer". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Accessed November 25, 2024.
  5. Saval, M. (2023). "TikTok Star Montana Tucker Expands Reach of Moving Holocaust Doc Via YouTube". Variety. January 26, 2023. Accessed November 25, 2024.
  6. Lebovic, M. (2022). "TikTok influencer Montana Tucker makes Holocaust docu-series for Gen Z". Times of Israel. November 7, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Scoging, Sacha (February 16, 2021). "Montana Tucker: "People like to see you're not 100 percent perfect"". square mile. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  8. 1 2 Halutz, Dina (December 5, 2025). "Network star Montana Tucker: "I receive threats on a daily basis, but I'm not afraid"". Ynet . Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  9. "Montana Tucker Uses TikTok Audience to Teach Gen Z about the Holocaust". Jewish Journal. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  10. "Montana Tucker". Montana Tucker. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  11. Urban, S. (2022). "‘Holiday Twist’ Adds Sean Astin, Neal McDonough to Cast (Exclusive)". Variety. June 23, 2022. Accessed November 25, 2024.
  12. Grobar, M. (2023). "Family Film ‘Holiday Twist’ Starring Sean Astin, Neal McDonough, Kelly Stables & Others Secures Nationwide Theatrical Release ". Deadline. October 18, 2023. Accessed November 25, 2024.
  13. "Montana Tucker". LaPalme Magazine. June 15, 2021. Accessed November 25, 2024.
  14. "How Montana Tucker's TikTok series on antisemitism made it to the White House". Jewish Insider. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  15. "TikTok star Montana Tucker to emcee DC embassy event for Israel's 75th anniversary". Times of Israel. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  16. "Montana Tucker, Influencer and Activist, Visits Rambam". Rambam Health Care Campus . December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  17. "Montana Tucker: 'It's us against the world, and we will prevail'". JNS. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  18. "Montana Tucker: 'Come to Israel and see it with your own eyes'". The Jerusalem Post . November 13, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  19. "Montana Tucker's Oct. 7 film showcases young victims' strength". NewsNation . November 15, 2024.
  20. "Those who watch 'The Children of October 7' won't be able to deny the massacre". Ynet . December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  21. "'The Children of October 7': Montana Tucker premieres emotional film". Ynet . December 5, 2024. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  22. "Montana Tucker brings global attention to hostages' plight". JNS. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  23. "Montana Tucker on Fighting Israel's Digital War". Hadassah Magazine. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  24. "Montana Tucker Dazzles FIDF Women". Atlanta Jewish Times. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  25. "Tucker Women's Day". American Friends Magen David Adom. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  26. "Mother's Day". Wizo Events. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  27. "United Hatzalah of Israel Raises $18 Million at 4th Annual Miami Benefit Event". Israel Rescue. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  28. "Mayor Eric Adams Hosts Annual Jewish Heritage Event". Jewish Link. Retrieved December 4, 2024.