Mark Ruffalo gets Hollywood Jewish backing amid Paramount merger row

Writer: Heidi Hsia

Over 170 Jewish figures defend Mark Ruffalo against antisemitism accusations

2 Sep - Just as Mark Ruffalo is being attacked by the big guns of Hollywood, more than 170 Jewish figures from the entertainment industry have now signed a letter in support of him, calling the antisemitic accusation against him as nothing more than a smear campaign.

The letter, which was signed by film players including Joaquin Phoenix, Jonathan Glazer, Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Ilana Glazer, Hannah Einbinder, James Schamus, Emma Seligman, Tony Kushner, Jane Schoenbrun and Wallace Shawn, argued against what it says are "false and dangerous weaponisation of charges of antisemitism."

"Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism. It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty," the letter expressed.

Pro-Palestinian Jewish actor Hannah Einbinder also signed the letter

Stressing that the proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery will destroy thousands upon thousands of livelihoods, further consolidate the oligarchic control of our media (witness the gutting of CBS News) and strangle competition and creativity in film and television production and distribution, the letter added, "According to a recent Washington Post poll, 61% of American Jews now agree that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza; and four in ten even agree that these crimes amount to genocide. Do those attacking Mark Ruffalo as an antisemite seriously believe that all these American Jews are antisemites too? Or that we don't see the connection between, on the one hand, the criminal impunities that have led the US and Israel into unending disaster and, on the other, the oligarchic powerplays of the Musks, Ellisons, Thiels and others who are working to dismantle our democracy?"

The campaign against Ruffalo, which was purported by the likes of Paramount, Haim Saban, Teddy Schwarzman and The Simon Wiesenthal Center among others, came after the actor slammed the merger between the two studios, and accused the Ellison family of being complicit in the genocide against Palestinians through Larry Ellison's software company, Oracle.

Mark Ruffalo recently accused the Ellison family of complicity in what he called a "genocide" against Palestinians