More Than 170 Jewish Entertainment Figures Defend Mark Ruffalo, Group of 1,000 Do Not

Progressives are trying to stop a merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. They claim it will cost jobs and create a monopoly, but they're mostly opposed to the owner of Paramount, the son of Oracle founder and Donald Trump donor Larry Ellison, being in control of the new company. Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN, and they're afraid it will go the way of Fox News.

Actor and progressive activist Mark Ruffalo wrote a screed against the merger, claiming that Oracle is secretly working on some project with Israel to assist the IDF and was complicit in Palestinian "genocide." Paramount fired back with a statement accusing Ruffalo of relying on "antisemitic tropes." "Words like ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid,’ applied to a corporate transaction, aren’t just wrong — they’re a bridge too far, and they cheapen the very real suffering those words are meant to describe. This doesn't deserve a response in kind — and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone," the statement began.

"The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest," Ruffalo replied on X, noting that "everything I know about acting, activism, and humanism has been profoundly shaped by the Jewish friends, colleagues, and loved ones who have been integral and family throughout every point of my life." In other words, he has Jewish friends.

Variety reports that more than 170 Jewish entertainment industry figures have come to his defense.

Mark Ruffalo is being defended by more than 170 Jewish entertainment figures in a new open letter rejecting Paramount's claim that Ruffalo fueled “antisemitic tropes”:

“The time is over for spurious charges of antisemitism to be trotted out, this time in the defense of war,… pic.twitter.com/tlBeYK7UJA
— Variety (@Variety) September 1, 2026

The post continues:

… oligarchy, and AI domination. That tired playbook has run its course. We stand proudly with Mark Ruffalo, and with all decent people who are bravely rising and speaking truth to power.”
Supporters include Hannah Einbinder, Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Ilana Glazer, Tony Kushner, Emma Seligman, Jane Schoenbrun and Wallace Shawn.
The letter follows a heated week in which Ruffalo has been at the center of a growing confrontation over the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. In a social media post on Aug. 21, the Marvel star attacked the deal over its potential consequences for Hollywood and accused the Ellison family of being complicit in the “genocide” against Palestinians, which he said “was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle.” In the post, he highlighted Oracle’s ties to the Israeli military.
“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," reads the open letter defending Ruffalo. "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?”

Dear @Variety,
The letter claims to defend @MarkRuffalo from the charge that his campaign against Paramount is really about Israel.
Its defense, remarkably, is to explain at length that the campaign is really about Israel.
Five failures. Any one should be fatal. Let me explain: https://t.co/rGn7tZGKqU
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

First, the letter concedes the central factual predicate.

It lists ordinary antitrust concerns—jobs, consolidation, competition—and then pivots:

“BUT it will do all this and more as part of a larger project…”

That “but” is doing heroic amounts of work.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

The antitrust case is expressly subordinated to a "larger project" involving Gaza, Israel, Tony Blair, TikTok and Palestine.
Ruffalo’s defenders were trying to prove the campaign wasn’t about Israel.
Instead, they supplied 800 words explaining why it was.
Thanks for the honesty!
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

Second, the letter never answers the actual accusation.
The accusation is not: “Criticizing Israel is antisemitic.”
It is that the campaign against the merger targeted particular Jewish businessmen because of their support for Israel, and may have enlisted state power to help.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

Third, the letter reproduces the very conspiracy structure it indignantly denies:
Jewish billionaires using “astonishing” wealth to consolidate media control, serve a foreign state, shape propaganda and build a surveillance apparatus to watch us all.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

Money. Media. Dual loyalty. Hidden control.

Pathetic.

I thought you were all supposed to be creatives.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

The authors didn’t merely wander near one of the oldest antisemitic narratives in Western history. They assembled it complete with "purported" funding figures and a "corrupt cohort" that "will always be watching us" and then signed their names beneath it.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

Ruffalo needs better help. A defense should not double as Exhibit A.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

Fourth, the poll is a non sequitur. That 61% of American Jews reportedly believe Israel committed crimes tells us what they think about Israel’s conduct. It tells us nothing about whether this campaign targeted the Ellisons because of their identity and support for Israel.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

“Do you think all these Jews are antisemites?” answers another accusation no one made.
Nor does “we are Jewish” resolve the question. Jewish participation cannot confer automatic immunity from antisemitism.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

Fifth, look at the evidentiary standard.
The project was "trumpeted."
The motive was "openly proclaimed."
The funding is "purported."
The connections are "crucial."
Every single contested assertion arrives unsourced and pre-characterized.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

They accuse their critics of “innuendos” while constructing a chain from Ellison to Blair to a “Board of Peace” to an “open-air laboratory” to Safra Catz, all without load-testing a single link.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

BTW the letter never identifies one allegedly false statement in the "smear campaign." Not one.
"Slander." "Falseness." "Virulence." All asserted. No specific falsehood named.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

A letter devoted to rebutting an "outrageous smear" should be able to quote the smear and explain what is false. This one cannot.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

Bottom line: Their campaign against this merger is part of a "larger project" centered on Gaza and Israel.

Their words, not mine.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

So the remaining question is the one @NJACLaw's CPRA requests were designed to answer:
Did the Attorney General know the true political object of this campaign before lending it the power and legitimacy of the state?
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

Ruffalo’s "defenders" appear to think the answer is yes, and say so proudly.

Looking forward to getting those responses, @AGRobBonta.
— Mark Goldfeder (@MarkGoldfeder) September 1, 2026

Touché. While Variety reports that more than 170 Jewish industry insiders have defended Ruffalo, The Hollywood Reporter notes that a group of nearly 1,000 people in the entertainment industry have condemned Ruffalo's antisemitic tropes.

A group of nearly 1,000 people in the entertainment industry have released a statement condemning @MarkRuffalo's “antisemitic tropes”. https://t.co/a6Ok7llqvl
— Never Again (@Never_Again2020) August 31, 2026

The Hollywood Reporter writes:

The statement was organized by a group calling itself The Brigade, which describes itself as “a group of nearly 1,000 members, friends, and allies of the Jewish community who are proud to be working in film, television, music, Broadway, social and digital, and other platforms in and around the entertainment industry.”
…
“Singling out Jewish executives and describing them in terms lifted from centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy theories, while invoking Israel as the frame for that attack, is antisemitic,” reads the statement. “It is unacceptable to introduce Jews, antizionism, or antisemitism into conversations about business transactions, simply because those involved are Jewish.”
…
The statement added: “This is a callous continuation of the ongoing campaign by the same individuals and groups targeting Jewish people and the state of Israel, a pattern of antisemitism and misinformation that puts our community in grave danger.”

I guess the Hollywood Reporter agrees that Ellison shouldn’t be allowed to complete a merger because they support Israel. Mark Ruffalo is an idiot as well as an antisemite.
— JEE (@jejune55) September 1, 2026

Not enough!!!
— Philip Pikus (@PhilipPikus) August 31, 2026

His current comments aside; his narcissistic bloviating where he thinks hes the paragon of virtue and arbiter over all is fucking tiresome. Hes a washed up actor whos best, mid performances are well behind him.
— Renegade Misfit (@xRogueMisfitx) August 31, 2026

The problem is he's not. He's currently starring in a $2 billion blockbuster.

Rep. Ro Khanna just declared Ruffalo to be "one of the great humanitarians of our time," so take that for what it's worth.

Good. He's on the "never to be watched" list anyway.
— FF (@Flick_Backup) August 31, 2026

Can this merger please just go through?

***

Editor’s Note: Hollywood, academia, and liberal elites are out of touch with the average American.

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