{"id":94511,"date":"2026-09-04T18:32:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T23:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/?p=94511"},"modified":"2026-09-04T18:32:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T23:32:27","slug":"hollywoods-jews-take-sides-in-mark-ruffalo-paramount-antisemitism-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/hollywoods-jews-take-sides-in-mark-ruffalo-paramount-antisemitism-row\/","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood\u2019s Jews take sides in Mark Ruffalo-Paramount antisemitism row"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ANDREW LAPIN<\/p>\n

Some 170 notable Jewish personalities have released<\/a> an open letter defending actor and producer Mark Ruffalo, who has been accused of antisemitism for his comments on Paramount Skydance\u2019s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.<\/p>\n

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Mark Ruffalo attends the European Gala Screening for Amazon’s “Crime 101” at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on January 28, 2026 in London, England. (Kate Green\/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Entertainers, rabbis and a physician who is featured in a new documentary<\/a> about doctors treating Palestinians in Gaza signed the letter released Wednesday, which called the attacks against Ruffalo a \u201cfalse and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism.\u201d George Clooney also defended Ruffalo on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Signatories of the pro-Ruffalo petition include \u201cBroad City\u201d creators Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer; celebrated filmmakers Joel Coen, Jonathan Glazer and Todd Haynes; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner; and actors including Hannah Einbinder, Joaquin Phoenix and Debra Winger.<\/p>\n

In late August, Ruffalo, the award-winning actor and progressive activist, went on social media to link Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, the chief driver of the looming Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, to tech giant Oracle, which Ruffalo claimed is responsible for \u201can apartheid system of oppression\u201d in Gaza. <\/p>\n

Oracle is owned by Ellison\u2019s father, Larry Ellison, one of<\/a> the world\u2019s richest men; both Ellisons are Jewish and prominent Israel supporters. Oracle also owns a stake in the social media network TikTok\u2019s U.S. operations, and has long been a target of progressives who point to the company\u2019s links to, and public support for, Israel<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cLarry Ellison will own most of \u2018Para Bros,\u2019\u201d Ruffalo wrote in the post, which is no longer available, according<\/a> to a screenshot reproduced by the Hollywood Reporter. The \u201cSpotlight\u201d and Marvel star also called Larry Ellison a \u201cclassic oligarch\u201d who is \u201ccrushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The $110 billion merger is under adjudication in federal court in California following an antitrust lawsuit filed by 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America. As backlash to the merger has steadily grown across Hollywood and in political and media spaces, Paramount at least since June has been pushing the idea that opposition to the merger has had an antisemitic element<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The company seized on Ruffalo\u2019s comments, immediately releasing<\/a> a lengthy statement to media after his controversial social media post that accused the actor of invoking \u201cantisemitic tropes,\u201d adding, \u201cThis simply exposes the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

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David Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance, speaks during a New York Upfront Partnership Event in 2026. (Noam Galai\/Getty Images for Paramount)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Several leading Jewish groups have also said his post stepped beyond legitimate criticism of the merger and into classic antisemitic rhetoric about Jewish wealth and power. <\/p>\n

In an August statement, the head of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles said the actor\u2019s comments \u201ccombined Jewish wealth, media control, secret technology and sinister global power,\u201d drawing on \u201crecognizable antisemitic tropes with a long and dangerous history.\u201d Other LA-based Jewish activist groups, including Creative Community For Peace and the Simon Wiesenthal Center, have also condemned his comments.<\/p>\n

Speaking amid the unfolding controversy about Ruffalo and his use of the word genocide to describe Israel\u2019s campaign in Gaza, \u201cFauda\u201d co-creator Avi Isaacharoff called him \u201ca rare combination\u201d of \u201cignorant\u201d and \u201cstupid.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has reached out to Shani Rosenzweig, Ruffalo\u2019s agent and a prominent Jewish entertainment figure in her own right, for comment and a Ruffalo interview request. Rosenzweig did respond to either request.<\/p>\n

Ruffalo has found support from several progressive Jewish figures beyond the entertainment industry, including IfNotNow co-founder Simone Zimmerman, Israeli Holocaust historian Raz Segal and Jewish Currents editor Peter Beinart.<\/p>\n

In their open letter defending Ruffalo, the progressive Jewish cohort argued the actor was right to draw links between Israel\u2019s behavior and the merger.<\/p>\n

\u201cPointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism,\u201d the letter reads. \u201cIt is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty.\u201d The letter points to specific statements from Larry Ellison, and Oracle executives, describing their surveillance and artificial-intelligence technological ventures and their positive relationship with Israel.<\/p>\n

Other entertainment figures have tried to thread a more careful needle. Oscar-winning filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan, who has directed Ruffalo in two movies and was at one point developing<\/a> an American remake of the hit Israeli TV series \u201cShtisel,\u201d defended<\/a> the actor from antisemitism charges this week while also noting, \u201cI disagree profoundly with many of his positions on the Middle East, Israel, Gaza, and Iran\u2019s constellation of fanatical Islamist fundamentalist proxies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Mark and I have been friends for over 30 years,\u201d Lonergan continued in his letter to the Hollywood Reporter. \u201cThe notion that he is antisemitic is overtly preposterous, and the accusation itself a cynical and disgusting lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruffalo is soon scheduled to attend the Toronto International Film Festival for the Sept. 10 premiere of the biopic \u201cBeing Heumann,\u201d about Jewish-American disability rights activist Judy Heumann, in which he co-stars.<\/p>\n

Opposition to David Ellison\u2019s bid to combine two historic media giants, each having recently weathered smaller mergers of their own, has grown considerably in recent months. Those objections have come both from Hollywood rank-and-file concerned about further industry consolidation, as well as from political and media figures voicing objections to Ellison\u2019s close ties to President Donald Trump and his intentions with Warner\u2019s flagship news property, CNN. <\/p>\n

The merger was initially thought to be on track to be finalized this fall with Trump\u2019s blessing. The president has publicly championed<\/a> the merger, and his Justice Department approved<\/a> the deal in June. But talks have ground to a halt following the antitrust lawsuit. The fate of the merger is now in question, with Paramount having agreed to a trial in March 2027 and on the hook<\/a> for a $7-million-per-day \u201cticking fee\u201d<\/a> it had previously agreed to pay out to shareholders if the deal failed to close by this October. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Prior to Ruffalo\u2019s post, Ellison himself published<\/a> a New York Times op-ed defending his merger plans.<\/p>\n

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