Bruce Lion, the millionaire heir to Lion Raisins, has spoken out after being accused of directing antisemitic abuse at his rabbi neighbor, dismissing the hate-crime charges as “ridiculous.”
Lion, 64, spoke to the Daily Mail on Thursday after appearing in a Los Angeles courtroom over three charges linked to a June confrontation with Zushe Cunin outside their neighboring homes in Pacific Palisades.
Video allegedly shows Lion standing half-naked on the balcony of his $5.3 million mansion and directing slurs at the rabbi. He is accused of calling Cunin a “Jew boy” and threatening to “pull” his nose.
After Thursday’s brief hearing, however, Lion insisted that the outburst was not motivated by Cunin’s Jewish faith.
Asked about the charges, Lion replied: “Ridiculous!”
“I have so many Jewish friends,” he said. “This wasn’t about the rabbi being Jewish; it was about the way he treated me, which wasn’t nice.”
Bruce Lion spoke to the Daily Mail after appearing in court Thursday on hate-crime charges stemming from an incident in June
Lion is accused of directing antisemitic slurs at Rabbi Zushe Cunin, who runs Chabad of Pacific Palisades next door to the Lion Raisins heir’s $5.3 million mansion
Lion has not yet entered a plea. He faces two felony counts of making criminal threats with intent to terrorize, along with one charge alleging that he threatened someone because of their religious beliefs.
If convicted, he could receive a prison sentence of up to nine years.
Lion was arrested on June 13 and booked on June 14 before being released on $225,000 bail.
As a condition of his release, he was ordered to remain 300 yards away from Cunin, a restriction that effectively barred him from returning to his own home next door.
During Thursday’s hearing, Lion’s attorney, Alexandra Kazarian, asked Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz to reduce the distance required under the protective order from 300 yards to 100.
The judge approved the request.
Lion said the change still does not allow him to return to his Pacific Palisades house.
“I still can’t go back to my house,” he told the Daily Mail, explaining that he has been staying in hotels to comply with the protective order.
Lion, heir to the multimillion-dollar Lion Raisins company, was arrested on June 13 before being released on $225,000 bail
Lion said the confrontation was unrelated to his neighbor’s religion and described the charges against him as “ridiculous”
The businessman said he will now be able to remain nearby, even though he cannot live at his Pacific Palisades residence.
“My father bought another house 25 years ago just down the street from my home, so I shall stay there,” he said.
The pre-trial hearing was ultimately continued to November 4 after Lion’s lead attorney was unable to appear in court after undergoing surgery this week.
Footage of the June incident obtained by the California Post had shown Lion threatening to ‘pull’ the rabbi’s nose and ranting: ‘I ain’t going nowhere Jew boy, lose some f***ing weight.
‘Go f***ing work. Do something for a change. Your fake f***ing gospel don’t mean s***t. You’re f***ing done. You kill Jesus, you’re going to f***ing hell. Do you understand?’
Lion only moved last March into the ritzy neighborhood next to Rabbi Cunin who runs the local Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish outreach and religious education organization.
Lion, who said he also owns a home in Fresno, California, has a checkered past.
In 2019, he was convicted of violating a domestic violence restraining order and served jail time after making criminal threats and owning a firearm, despite a court order prohibiting him from doing so.
He was also arrested twice in 2023.
Once for allegedly throwing rocks at cars, blocking a highway and assaulting construction workers, and another time for allegedly violating a domestic violence protective order at the home of his ex-wife.
According to his LinkedIn, Lion made his fortune by working as an administrator for Lion Raisins.
The family-owned company has an estimated value around $120 million and estimated annual revenue of up to $75 million.