Actor-comedian Michael Rapaport said he stopped referring to President Donald Trump as “Dick Stain” because he wanted to support efforts to bring home the hostages taken during the October 7 attacks.
Appearing on the Hate to Break It to Ya Podcast on Friday, Rapaport said conversations with the families of the hostages and what he witnessed after the attacks convinced him to change his approach.
“I knew that the only way that those hostages, who were being held for weeks and then months and then a year. I knew that the only chance would be him. And why I don’t insult him now, and I could insult him and I could be derogatory towards him, is because, for me, simply getting the hostages home was enough for me to not call him Dick-Stained Donald Trump or be disrespectful,” Rapaport said.
“The conversations I had with the hostage families, the reality that I saw. It’s worth it for me to not be disrespectful for him because I fought, begged, prayed, pleaded to get the hostages home by any means necessary. And that’s why when people go you don’t say dick-stained anymore,” Rapaport said.
On January 15, 2025, Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had reached a hostage and ceasefire agreement, calling it the result of months of diplomacy. The deal, brokered by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, led to the release of hostages captured during the October 7 attacks.
Rapaport said critics often ask why he no longer uses the nickname for Trump, but he tells them they’re free to criticize the president themselves.
“You could say it ‘tough guy, big mouth, you don’t say things about Trump.’ I go, you got a platform, say it. You want me to keep going for, I said it enough, and I said this too. You’re not saying this. I’m like you could say it,” Rapaport added.
“Carry the torch, here’s the torch, but for me it was enough to get the hostages home and protect Israel, protect Israel’s right to exist. Those two things were enough for me.”
Rapaport said he still has criticisms of Trump but decided it was more important to avoid personal attacks while pushing for the release of the hostages.
“The insight that I’ve had to not be disparaging to him simply for that. Period,” Rapaport said. “I could still be critical and still be frustrated and have all the things, but that’s what, that’s what was… it’s… for me, I know it was important enough for me to no longer carry on like that.”
“Dick Stain” had been Rapaport’s go-to nickname for Trump, appearing repeatedly in his social media posts and videos.