The signatories went beyond defending Ruffalo against accusations of antisemitism, echoing many of the claims that sparked the controversy in the first place.
By United with Israel Staff
More than 170 Jewish artists, writers, filmmakers and activists have rallied behind actor Mark Ruffalo after he was accused of antisemitism over an attack on the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger that singled out Jewish executives and linked the deal to Israel and the war in Gaza.
The group issued an open letter titled “Enough!” defending Ruffalo and accusing his critics of waging an “outrageous smear campaign” against the Hollywood star.
The letter was signed by a number of prominent entertainment figures, including filmmakers Joel Coen and Tony Kushner, actresses Debra Winger, Gina Gershon and Rosanna Arquette, comedian Ilana Glazer and author Naomi Klein.
“Enough with the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism against those who are brave enough to point out the obvious: that the assault on the Palestinian people and the assault on our liberties at home are deeply interconnected,” the letter states.
The signatories went beyond defending Ruffalo against accusations of antisemitism, echoing many of the claims that sparked the controversy in the first place.
They accused Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and his partners of pursuing a “larger project of tech-driven domination” and linked Ellison’s business interests, support for Israel and involvement with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to Gaza.
“The AI road to WarnerMount runs through Gaza,” the letter declares, while accusing Ellison and his associates of building an “Orwellian world” of surveillance and control.
The letter also rejected criticism that connecting Jewish executives, Israel and the corporate merger amounted to antisemitism.
“Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism,” the signatories wrote, describing such criticism instead as a “Jewish ethical duty.”
Ruffalo accused of invoking antisemitic tropes
The letter followed a controversy that erupted after Ruffalo launched a blistering attack on the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, focusing in part on the Ellison family and its support for Israel.
Ruffalo denounced Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” and attacked the Ellisons over their wealth, technology interests, government contracts and ties to the Jewish state.
Paramount responded by accusing Ruffalo of invoking antisemitic tropes in what was ostensibly a dispute over a corporate merger.
“We are, as always, troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute,” a Paramount spokesperson said.
Ruffalo subsequently denied that his comments were antisemitic, arguing that criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli military technology or executives who support Israel should not be conflated with hostility toward Jews.
“The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest,” Ruffalo wrote.
He said he has “deep love and respect” for Jewish people and cited the influence of Jewish friends, colleagues and loved ones on his life.
That defense itself drew a sharp rebuke from The Brigade, a coalition representing nearly 1,000 Jewish community members and allies in the entertainment industry, in a statement signed by Israeli-American entertainment mogul Haim Saban.
The group said criticism of a business transaction or Israeli government policy is legitimate, but argued that singling out Jewish executives while invoking longstanding narratives about Jewish wealth, secrecy and power crosses a different line.
“This is not commentary on a merger. It is not a criticism of a government,” the group said. “It is simple antisemitism, where Jewish executives are portrayed as a secretive and powerful wealth-hoarding elite delighting in mass death.”
The Brigade also rejected Ruffalo’s reference to his personal relationships with Jews, saying there was “no excuse and no defense for this rhetoric, including the ‘I have Jewish friends’ rationale.”
The new letter defending Ruffalo shows that the controversy has now divided Jewish figures within the entertainment industry itself.
Ruffalo’s defenders maintain that accusations of antisemitism are being used to silence criticism of Israel and powerful pro-Israel executives. But rather than distancing themselves from the rhetoric at the center of the dispute, their letter repeats and expands upon the connections between Jewish executives, corporate power and Israel that prompted the antisemitism accusations in the first place.
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