The apology addresses one layer of a broader controversy over Duwaji’s social media history, which has drawn scrutiny as Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, works to ease concerns among some in the city’s Jewish community. Duwaji did not address the more recent Israel-related posts in her apology.
Rama Duwaji, the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, apologized Wednesday for “harmful” social media posts she made as a teenager, responding after a conservative news outlet published her years of online activity. In an interview with the arts website Hyperallergic, Duwaji, an illustrator, said she felt “a lot of shame being confronted with language I used that is so harmful to others,” adding “being 15 doesn’t excuse it.”
“I’ve read and seen a lot of what others have had to say in response, and I understand the hurt I caused and am truly sorry,” she said.
What the Apology Didn’t Cover
Duwaji did not specify which comments she was apologizing for. She also did not address more recent social media activity regarding Israel that has drawn scrutiny as Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, seeks to ease concerns among some in the city’s Jewish community.
Content of Past Posts
The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative outlet, reported in March on years of Duwaji’s online activity across multiple social media platforms. The reporting documented slurs in her old posts: Duwaji used an anti-gay slur in 2013 and used a racial slur for Black people while addressing a friend.
The Free Beacon also found that Duwaji had shared posts praising female Palestinian militants who participated in plane hijackings and bombings in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2015, she shared a post saying Tel Aviv was occupying Palestinian land and “shouldn’t exist.” She also liked an Instagram post that appeared to celebrate Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The Illustration Controversy
Duwaji came under criticism for providing an illustration for an essay by an author who described the Oct. 7 attack as “spectacular” and called Jewish Israelis “rootless soulless ghouls,” according to the Free Beacon.
Mayor Mamdani previously said his wife had been commissioned to illustrate an excerpt and never met the author. He added that Duwaji had not seen the author’s previous inflammatory comments. Mamdani called the author’s rhetoric “patently unacceptable” and “reprehensible.”
Mayor’s Response
When asked Thursday about which specific posts his wife regretted, Mamdani did not elaborate beyond her comments in the Hyperallergic interview. “She shared some of her reflections in this interview,” he told reporters. “I won’t add much to them, what I will say, however, is that she is someone of incredible integrity.”
Mamdani noted that scrutiny of his wife’s social media was “part and parcel” of his own decision to run for mayor, “a decision that has ramifications for those that I love.” He characterized Duwaji as a “private person” who holds no formal position in City Hall.