Jonah Platt: Ben Platt's brother rants about "Snow White," podcasts about being Jewish, posts a j/o video

In October 2024,  when Rachel Zegler introduced the first trailer for her Disney movie Snow White, she tweeted to her followers, "and always remember, free Palestine."  I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds like she supports establishing a separate Palestinian state. 

The results were catastrophic.  Costar Gal Gadol, who didn't say it, began to receive death threats, so Disney had to hire extra security.  They gave Rachel a social media guru to make sure she didn't post anything else controversial, Producer  Marc Platt he flew to New York to reprimand her.

On March 26th, 2025, a few days after the movie bombed on its first weekend, someone tweeted Marc's son Jonah saying that his father's actions were "creepy."  Jonah responded with what Vanity Fair called an "unhinged rant."

I read it.  He criticizes Rachel for forcing Marc  to "leave his family" and fly across the country to attempt damage control.  Her "selfish statement" destroyed the box office and jeopardized the livelihoods of the hundreds of people involved in filming: "blue collar workers."

JustJared posted an "OMG, I can't believe he would say that!"  Others pointed out that Marc Platt is 67, with grown children, so "leave his family?"  And the "blue collar" workers get paid regardless of how much money the movie makes. 

A few hours later, Jonah posted nude and aroused photos for his followers.  I don't know how that contributes to the dispute, but we'll see them later on.  First, who the heck are these people?

Marc Platt, born in 1957, grew up in New York, got a law degree from NYU, and worked as an entertainment lawyer before moving into production.  He has produced a number of popular and not-so-popular films, including Legally Blonde, Josie and the Pussycats, Scott Pilgrim vs, the World, Dear Evan Hanson, Better Nate than Ever, Babylon, and Wicked.  

He has five children, including:

Ben Platt, top photo and left, has been in a lot of Broadway plays, including Dear Evan Hanson, Camelot, The Book of Mormon, and Gutenberg: The Musical.  I've reviewed two of his films, Pitch Perfect and The People We Hate at Weddings.  

He came out to his parents at age 12, and married Noah Galvin in 2024.

According to the IMDB, Jonah Platt is "a multi-platform creator and performer whose unique career spans many facets of the entertainment industry."  Can we get beyond the buzz words? His Instagram just says  "Actor/Jewish Advocate/Dad," and host of the Being Jewish podcast.  The posts are all about his guests.

He's got 30 on-screen credits, including episodes of A Million Little Things, Harley Quinn, Country Comfort, and Uncoupled.  That last one starts Neil Patrick Harris as a 40-ish gay guy grieving over his deceased partner. 

Jonah has two movie roles of interest, but I can't find them on any of my streaming services:

Menorah in the Middle: A woman's father has a heart attack on Hannukah.

The List: Her boyfriend sleeps with a celebrity on his "free pass" list (a list of people your partner agrees to let you sleep with), so a woman gets upset and tries to sleep with someone on her list.  But you agreed that it was ok

Jonah's production credits include the upcoming Bookends, about a Jewish guy (Noam Ash) who has to move in with his grandparents after a breakup. I don't know if he's gay or not, but both Noam Ash and next-billed Jared Reinfeld have played gay characters. 

Jonah is also a singer.  In 2020 the three Platt brothers, Jonah, Ben, and Henry, recorded Ahavat Olam,  typically recited during the Maariv, the evening prayers.

Ahavat olam beit Yisra'el amcha ahavta, 

Torah umitzvot chukim.

Umishpatim otanu limad'ta.

Eternal love for Your people, House of Israel,

Torah and Mitzvot, laws

and precepts have You taught us.

N*de photos after the break

Matisyahu's Hanukkah Gift: Tony Cavalero, Alfonso McAuley, Antiochus, Santa Claus, and some bonus Jewish dicks

 

 Matisyahu ("Gift of God" in Hebrew), born Matthew Paul Miller, is  -- or was -- a Hasidic reggae artist (he has re-invented himself, and no longer identifies as Hasidic).  Tony Cavalero starred in the music video for his song "Miracle" (2011):

At Hanukkah time, Matisyahu is skating with his kids, when Tony accidentally knocks him over! While unconscious, he dreams that he is bed with King Antiochus (Tony ), the evil Greek emperor who was defeated by the Maccabees. Afterwards there was only enough oil in the lamp to light the Temple for one night, but miraculously it stayed lit for eight days: thus we celebrate Hanukkah.

In bed, Antiochus invites Matisyahu to a party: "there's going to be babes, food, chocolate stuff."  He agrees to go, but then Mattityahu (Alfonso McAuley), the priests whose refusal to sacrifice to the Greek gods started the rebellion, convinces him to rebel instead. 

Left: Alfonso McAuley

They skate through a forest of Christmas trees and rap:

You look so down, look so puzzled. 

 Huddle round your fire through all the rubble.

Bound to stumble and fall but my strength comes not from man at all

Antiochus captures them and puts them in a cage in Santa Claus suits, guarded by a Nutcracker. They escape and fight through a hockey game.  

No need to worry, no need to cry.

Light up your mind no longer be blind

Him who searches he'll find

Leave your problems behind

We will shine like a fire in the sky

What's the reason we're alive.

Finally Antiochus warms up to the idea of religious freedom, and they all hug and dance under a menorah.

More after the break

Steve Bond: Tarzan costar turned Playgirl model turned soap hunk, all in the steamy 1970s.

 The October 1975 issue of Playgirl featured several nude photos of model/actor Steve Bond.  They quickly became the most famous male nude photos in the world (not counting those of Christopher George)

Not because he was a man-mountain -- no bodybuilder, he had the tight, pleasantly muscled physique of a New Sensitive Man.

Not because of his size beneath the equator, though he was huge.

Because of the contrast.

The last time anyone had seen Steve Bond, the 14-year old Israeli actor, born Schlomo Goldberg, was making his screen debut: he played Erik in a Tarzan movie (1968) with Mike Henry.

Seven years makes a big difference.

After one or two more guest roles, Steve went back home to Israel, finished high school, and completed his mandatory military service.  Now he was in L.A. again, ready to hit the big time.  The nude photos came at a moment of desperation, when he was flat broke

Unfortunately, posing in your birthday suit was still controversial in 1975, and Steve found it difficult getting the attention of casting directors. During the next decade, he played some street toughs, some sexploitation studs, a Chippendales dancer, and a forest ranger investigating some teen murders (in The Prey, 1984). 

He showed his butt a lot, but only when he was sexing naked ladies.

Finally, hoping that the nude pictures were long forgotten, he landed one of the defining roles of his career, redneck Jimmy Lee Holt on General Hospital (1983-87).

No such luck.  In 1985, an eagle-eyed editor at Playgirl discovered the old photos, and reprinted them.  Steve was devastated.  What would happen when the General Hospital producers found out?  Would he be fired? 

Answer after the break

Phil of the Future's future: Former Disney Channel teen Raviv Ullman on the Torah, wearing dresses, and his penis

 

On an uncomfortably humid episode of Broad City, set during a sopping-wet New York summer -- I've been there -- besties Abbi and Ilana try to beat the heat by buying, borrowing, or stealing an air conditioner.  Humorous or uncomfortable excursions follow, such as sex with a sopping-wet Seth Rogan, and holing up in a dorm room at New York University, smoking weed with -- and making out with -- two boys.  You'd think that someone hanging out in a college dorm room would be a college student, right?  No, they're high school students, age 16.

And one of them is Phil of the Future!

If you weren't watching the Disney Channel on Friday nights in 2004, you might not have noticed, among the girl-centric teencoms like That's So Raven, Lizzie McGuire, and Kim Possible, the boy-centric Phil of the Future.  A time-machine mishap strands a family from 2124 in our century, where they must adjust to primitive technology while keeping their secret. Phil, played by Ricky Ullman, immediately meets a girl, with whom he shares adventures while falling in love. Careful, dude, she could be your great-grandmother.

No gay subtexts here: hetero-romance is the beginning and end of everyone's story.  But there were a lot of cute guys, or guys who would grow up to be cute, like Evan Peters, whose butt you have seen many times on American Horror Story.  It was certainly better than watching Raven's psychic flashes.

After Phil, Ricky moved on to teen sex comedies like Prom Wars, grown-up sex comedies like How to Make Love to a Woman, and Rita Rocks, a Lifetime sitcom about a middle-aged lady who starts a garage band.

The straight-to-DVD Driftwood, 2006, was a change of pace dramatic role: David is sent to an "attitude adjustment camp." He befriends Noah, there to be "cured" of being gay, and helps him solve the murder of his boyfriend.  

This also marks the moment that Raviv dropped the stage name "Ricky" and came out as Jewish. He's actually Orthodox, and devout; his grandfather was a rabbi.

Contest, 2013, features a bully and his victim working together to win a contest.  I haven't seen it, but it appears to be all gay-subtext: the victim also gets a girlfriend. 

Strangers, 2017, not to be confused with Strangers, 2018, is a Facebook series about a young woman who makes extra money by renting out a room.  Isn't that called having a roommate?  She gets a girlfriend -- or two -- it's hard to tell from the trailer. Raviv plays Rory in three episodes.

I thought Raviv starred in Newsies on Broadway, but I can't find any reference. His theatrical credits include Bad Guys, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Death Trap (which features a gay kiss), and Usual Girls. 

This is from Spring Break 83, a "raunchy comedy" set to be released in 2012, but shut down by the actors' and technicians' union because they weren't being paid.

In 2020-21, Raviv hosted a weekly podcast on applying the Torah to everyday life.  His topics included the X-Men, student debt, the afterlife. tattoos, and the "clobber passages" that are often used for homophobic rants.

More after the break

The homoerotic hijinks of Skyler Gisondo's crew, with at least four gay and three nude dudes

Skyler Gisondo was born in Florida and grew up in California.  He was home schooled for several years to give him free time for acting; then he attended Milken Community School, a Jewish high school, graduating in 2014.  He was deeply involved in Jewish activities, including Temple Beth Am (Conservative Judaism), USY (United Synagogue Youth) and Camp Alonim.  In 2015 he began attending the University of Southern California, a semester at a time to make room for Santa Clarita Diet.

In high school and college, Skyler found some hunky friends who enjoyed homoerotic horseplay.  Some have remained part of his crew to this day.  

1. Top photo: Joshua Tree.  Skyler is the one pretending to be a top.

2. His friend Ben in Israel.

3. Skyler and his roommates.  What happens in the apartment, stays in the apartment.

4. In Costa Rica.

5. Skyler is the one attached to a guy instead of a girl.

More after the break