Singer Sofia Jimenez performing on stage on “Showmatch” in front of an image of Anne Frank. Photo: Screenshot.

A popular Argentinian television show has come under fire for “trivializing” the Holocaust by using an image of Holocaust victim and teenage diarist Anne Frank in a recent episode.

During a broadcast of the talent competition “Showmatch” that aired on July 24, contestant Sofia Jimenez sang “Yo No Soy Esa Mujer” (“I Am Not That Woman”), a song about female empowerment by Spanish singer Paulina Rubio. As she sang the lyrics “I’m not the type of woman who doesn’t leave the house,” an image of Anne Frank appeared on a large on-stage monitor behind her. The screen also showed other prominent female figures throughout the song, including Oprah Winfrey and Mother Teresa.

“On behalf of the entire program, I wanted to apologize to those who were offended,” Tinelli said during an episode aired after he visited the Anne Frank House, according to the Argentinian newspaper Clarin.

“I didn’t even know that this image would appear,” he said. “But, of course, we all know the story of Anne Frank and there are many who have been very hurt, especially people who have lost family members in the Holocaust. I personally had the opportunity to visit the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam four times and I know the story … we apologize enormously. Mainly to all the people of the Anne Frank Center and all the people of the Jewish community who were upset about this issue.”

“We are far from trivializing something as terrible for history as the Holocaust,” he added. “And I say this as the father of a son who has attended the ORT [Jewish] school for six years and I know perfectly the beautiful education that the entire Jewish community has here in Argentina and in the world too.”

Jiménez also thanked the Anne Frank Center for their guiding tour and said, “I think the most important thing was to transform something that was not good into something super constructive and enriching, because we did not want to offend anyone.”