Dr. Julia Alekseyeva works as a faculty member in the English department as well as holds a position in the Cinema and Media Studies department at the University of Pennsylvania.

Julia graduated from Harvard University in 2017 with a Doctorate in Comparative Literature and Film and Visual Studies.

She also holds a master’s in Comparative Literature, Film, and Visual Studies from Harvard University and did her Bachelor’s from Columbia University in English Language and Literature.

Highlights

• Julia Alekseyeva faced heavy backlash for glorifying the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson through controversial social media posts, leading her to privatize her accounts.
• Alekseyeva’s posts gained widespread attention after being shared on X, sparking outrage and prompting criticism from commentators, who called her behavior distasteful and disgusting.
• While some figures like Taylor Lorenz and Anthony Zenkus sided with Alekseyeva, emphasizing frustrations with the healthcare system, others condemned such responses as inappropriate.

Before joining UPenn, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies and was teaching at Harvard and Brooklyn College.

Moreover, Julia’s research focuses on global media, radical leftist politics, and transnational media interactions, with expertise in Japanese, French, and Soviet media traditions. 

Alongside her academic career, she is an author-illustrator known for her award-winning graphic novel, Soviet Daughter: A Graphic Revolution.

Julia Makes Her Social Media Private Following Online Backlash

Julia Alekseyeva was heavily blasted for posting on social media glorifying the murder of Brian Thompson, who was the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.

The CEO was reportedly shot by Luigi Mangione, a 27-year-old University of Pennsylvania alumnus, on December 4, 2024. 

DISGUSTING: UPenn professor Julia Alekseyeva celebrates the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO’s assassin and that the murderer attended UPenn.

To anyone wondering how America’s youth becomes so radical to murder someone, it is because of the extremist professors. pic.twitter.com/j2LlgaSAZf

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) December 10, 2024

 

Furthermore, while personal details regarding Julia are kept away from the media, she must be around 37-year-old.

Alekseyeva, who describes herself as a socialist and ardent antifascist, posted a TikTok featuring the song Do You Hear the People Sing? from Les Miserables.

She captioned the video writing,

 “I have never been more prouder to be a professor at the University of P3nnsylvania”, which was from Pennsylvania, with the number ‘3’ replacing the letter ‘E’. 

She had also posted an Instagram story reportedly called Mangione, the icon we all need and deserve.

These posts gained widespread attention after being shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Libs of TikTok and UPenn graduate Eyal Yakoby, sparking outrage online.

Critics condemned her actions as distasteful and demanded accountability from the university.  A person in the comments had said, 

She is happy some unbalanced 26-year-old just killed a family man in a cowardly way, and threw his own life away at the same time. There are no winners here. Blue hair dye is toxic to the brain.

Another person added saying,

This behavior is absolutely disgusting. This woman needs fired and shunned.

Following the backlash, Alekseyeva made her Instagram account private and appeared to delete her TikTok account.

However, her X (Twitter) account remains public. People have pointed out her history of left-wing activism and have claimed that her posts reflect a worrying level of radicalization.

While the University of Pennsylvania has not commented publicly, Julia posted a statement on 11th December 2024 in X saying, 

Late last night I posted a TikTok, as well as several stories on my Instagram. These were completely insensitive and inappropriate, and I retract them wholly. I do not condone violence and I am genuinely regretful of any harm the posts have caused.

Other professors And many prominent figures also Have Sided With Julia 

The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has created divisions with journalists, academics, and social media users coming left to praise or rejoice at his killing.

Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down…. wait, I’m sorry – today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.

— Prof Zenkus (@anthonyzenkus) December 4, 2024

 

Taylor Lorenz, who previously worked for the Washington Post, posted many times on Bluesky appearing to justify the killing by saying, 

And people wonder why we want these executives dead

-Taylor Lorenz

referencing a report about Blue Cross Blue Shield no longer covering the full length of anesthesia for surgeries.

Moreover, on her Substack, she stated it was natural for people to wish a similar fate on insurance executives, although she clarified she did not condone murder. She further added, 

People have very justified hatred toward insurance company CEOs because these executives are responsible for an unfathomable amount of death and suffering

-Taylor Lorenz

Anthony Zenkus, a senior lecturer at Columbia University’s School of Social Work, also faced backlash after his post on X regarding Thompson’s death. He wrote,

Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down… wait, I’m sorry—today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.

-Anthony Zenkus

Furthermore, while clarifying that he did not condone murder, Zenkus again posted saying, 

Murdering someone publicly in cold blood in broad daylight is never okay. Best we kill them by denying or delaying their claim for life-saving medical treatment so their families can watch them wither away till they die slowly and in severe and excruciating pain.

-Anthony Zenkus

However, in contrast to such comments, other commentators saw the tone as inappropriate and criticized such positions.

Soave, a senior editor at Reason, added saying,

this is perhaps a question that has a very wide range of answers

-Soave

Moreover, in this case, both the assassination and the reasons for it are the two sides of the same coin, pointing to deeper frustrations with the US healthcare system that defeat commentary on the services provided.

Additional Infomation

• Thompson’s murder occurred in midtown Manhattan, with evidence suggesting a politically motivated statement linked to dissatisfaction with healthcare policies.
• Brian Thompson led UnitedHealthcare focusing on innovation and cost reduction, earning both praise and criticism for his efforts to improve healthcare accessibility.
• Under Thompson’s leadership, UnitedHealthcare faced backlash for controversial policies like coverage denials, which critics claimed disproportionately impacted vulnerable communities.