Outrage grows after actress Mila Kunis has become the unwitting subject of a racist slur from Ukranian MP, Igor Miroschnichenko.

The politician referred to Kunis as a "zhydovka", a word, which reportedly roughly translates as “dirty jewess” in English. According to TMZ, the Ukranian government has been quick to defend Miroscnichenko, claiming that according to the dictionary, the word can also be used in a non-derogatory sense. However, from the context of the rant, it really does not seem like this is the case. Kunis, who has expressed her pride in her Ukranian Jewish heritage, moved to the US with her family, in hopes of escaping the anti-Semitism, which was still common in the country at that time - and apparently still is today. She herself is yet to respond or comment on the remarks.

This incident has not gone over without protest however. Rabbi Marvin Hier of the renowned Simon Wiesenthal Center in L.A has issued an open letter, calling out to the Ukranian Prime Minister to take action on the matter. In the letter, Hier brands the term as unacceptable and states that it is “insidious slur invoked by the Nazis and their collaborators as they rounded up the Jews to murder them at Babi Yar and in the death camps.” So far, the matter hasn’t reached any kind of conclusion.