Unassigned

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

Brett T.
Brett T.  |  10:00 PM on September 01, 2026

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.

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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.

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?”

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Brett T.
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Oligarchy! Drink!

Mark Goldfeder is the director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center and responded with a thread.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

Can this merger please just go through?

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