Accuracy in Media returns to target law firm for employing Columbia graduates tied to antisemitic campus activism
April 8, 2025
Accuracy in Media returned to the offices of Debevoise & Plimpton this week, launching a mobile billboard campaign to call out the law firm for employing two former Columbia Law School students with documented histories of antisemitic activism.
The campaign targets Avery Bashe and Tess Kim, both of whom graduated from Columbia Law in 2024 and have since begun working full-time at Debevoise & Plimpton. While at Columbia, Bashe and Kim served in leadership roles in student groups that signed a widely criticized statement blaming Israel and the United States for the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack, which killed nearly 1,200 people.
Despite being made aware of the women’s campus activism, the firm has refused to sever ties. In response, AIM deployed billboards featuring photos of Bashe and Kim, as well as Debevoise & Plimpton Presiding Partner Peter Furci. The ads include links to dedicated websites— www.AveryBashe.net and www.TessKim.net—that outline their record of involvement in antisemitic activity. The billboard also included Furci’s phone number, encouraging citizens to call and demand accountability.
“Despite signing a letter promising ‘zero tolerance’ for antisemitism, Islamophobia, and racism, Debevoise & Plimpton hired two of Columbia University’s leading antisemites,” said Accuracy in Media President Adam Guillette. “As long as the firm stands by employees who blamed the U.S. and Israel for a terrorist attack that killed nearly 1,200 people, we will continue to expose and highlight their hypocrisy.”
Guillette added that AIM offered both Bashe and Kim a path toward resolution.
“We have given Bashe and Kim ample opportunity to apologize, and we have been clear that we would delete their websites and stop the billboard campaign if they did so,” he said. “Although other activists have apologized for their actions, Bashe and Kim have refused.”
This week’s campaign is the third AIM has directed at Debevoise & Plimpton since October 2024. The law firm previously signed a letter pledging zero tolerance for antisemitism in hiring, but has taken no public disciplinary action regarding Bashe or Kim.
While at Columbia, Bashe served as co-president of the Society for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and Kim was the social chair of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association. Both student groups endorsed the controversial statement blaming Israel for the October 7 attack.
Since that attack, AIM has repeatedly taken action against antisemitism at Columbia, including deploying mobile billboards, launching the website ColumbiaHatesJews.com, and organizing email campaigns that generated more than 37,000 messages to the university’s board. Columbia President Minouche Shafik resigned on August 14, 2024, following mounting pressure led in part by AIM.
This latest effort is part of AIM’s ongoing Antisemitism Accountability Project, which aims to hold institutions and individuals responsible for promoting or enabling antisemitic rhetoric and activity.