More than 180 Jewish Hollywood artists have shown their support for actor Mark Ruffalo after Paramount accused him of antisemitism. The accusation against the American actor arose from his criticism of the production company for its corporate merger with the giant Warner Bros Discovery. Paramount responded to the actor, accusing him of resorting to “antisemitic tropes.” Now, in a letter sent to Variety magazine, personalities such as Joaquín Phoenix, Todd Haynes, Hana Einbinder, and other artists from the Jewish community called the accusation against Ruffalo “absurd”: “Labeling Mark Ruffalo as antisemitic for questioning a massive corporate merger is not only absurd but a dangerous way to silence legitimate criticism.”
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In the same letter, the signatories pointed out what they consider a misuse of the term antisemitic: “Enough of falsely and dangerously instrumentalizing accusations of antisemitism against those who have the courage to point out the obvious: that the attack against the Palestinian people and against our freedoms at home are deeply interconnected.”
The gigantic operation that Paramount and Warner Bros intend to complete for 111 billion dollars (about 96 billion euros) has been criticized in the artists’ letter as an “Orwellian” dystopia of constant surveillance and job destruction: “Yes, it will destroy thousands and thousands of jobs. Yes, it will further consolidate oligarchic control of our media. The path of AI towards WarnerMount (a portmanteau of Warner and Paramount) has made clear the Orwellian world it has in store for us while consolidating control over what we see and how we see it.”
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Ruffalo, worldwide known for playing Bruce Banner/Hulk in Marvel movies, has been one of the most critical voices in Hollywood against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. He has also spoken out against U.S. military interventions and applauded Spain’s resistance to President Donald Trump’s warlike ambitions in Iran. Before the confrontation with Paramount, Ruffalo had posted on Instagram questioning the role of the tech company Oracle in equipping the Israeli army. Oracle was founded by magnate Larry Ellison, father of David Ellison, Paramount’s CEO and one of the main drivers of the merger with Warner Bros Discovery.
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