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🇮🇱 Israel /Culture & Society

Hollywood Jews Take Sides in Mark Ruffalo Antisemitism Dispute With Paramount

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • About 170 Jewish entertainers, rabbis and other public figures signed a letter defending Mark Ruffalo against accusations of antisemitism.
  • Paramount said Ruffalo’s criticism of the proposed merger invoked antisemitic tropes about Jewish wealth and power.
  • The $110 billion transaction is facing an antitrust lawsuit in federal court in California.

About 170 prominent Jewish figures have rallied behind Mark Ruffalo after Paramount accused the actor and producer of antisemitism over his criticism of the company’s proposed merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.

false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism

· Signatories of the open letterThe Jewish figures used this phrase to defend Ruffalo against accusations over his criticism of the proposed merger.

The signatories include entertainers, rabbis and a physician featured in a documentary about doctors treating Palestinians in Gaza. Their open letter described the attacks on Ruffalo as a “false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism.” George Clooney also defended Ruffalo.

The petition includes Broad City creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, filmmakers Joel Coen, Jonathan Glazer and Todd Haynes, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, and actors Hannah Einbinder, Joaquin Phoenix and Debra Winger.

an apartheid system of oppression

· Mark RuffaloRuffalo used the phrase while linking Oracle to his criticism of the merger and Israel’s policies in Gaza.

Ruffalo, an award-winning actor and progressive activist, criticized the proposed transaction on social media in late August. He linked Paramount Skydance chief executive David Ellison, the deal’s main force, to Oracle, which Ruffalo claimed was responsible for “an apartheid system of oppression” in Gaza. Ruffalo also wrote that Larry Ellison, David Ellison’s father and Oracle’s owner, would own most of the combined company. He called Larry Ellison a “classic oligarch” who was “crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance.”

classic oligarch

· Mark RuffaloRuffalo used the phrase to describe Larry Ellison in a social-media post criticizing the proposed transaction.

Paramount responded with a lengthy statement accusing Ruffalo of invoking “antisemitic tropes” and saying, “This simply exposes the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction.” Several Jewish groups likewise said his remarks crossed the line from criticism of the merger into rhetoric about Jewish wealth and power. The merger remains under adjudication in federal court in California after 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America filed an antitrust lawsuit.

This simply exposes the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction.

· Paramount SkydanceThe company said Ruffalo’s comments revealed an antisemitic motivation behind opposition to the merger.
About this summary

Originally published by Jerusalem Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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