More than 180 prominent Jewish figures, including Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Haynes, signed an open letter on Wednesday defending actor Mark Ruffalo against accusations of antisemitism. The controversy erupted after Ruffalo criticized a proposed $111bn corporate merger involving Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery, linking executives to military technology contracts in Gaza.
The Open Letter and Hollywood Signatories Defending Mark Ruffalo
A collective of more than 170 prominent Jewish artists and academics released an open letter titled “Enough!” to push back against what they termed an outrageous smear campaign targeting the Marvel star. Among the high-profile signatories supporting Mark Ruffalo are Joaquin Phoenix, Jonathan Glazer, Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Ilana Glazer, Hannah Einbinder, James Schamus, Emma Seligman, Tony Kushner, Jane Schoenbrun, Wallace Shawn, Miranda July, and Naomi Klein.
The letter addresses accusations leveled against Ruffalo after he spoke out against media consolidation. The signatories argued that weaponizing charges of antisemitism to silence legitimate corporate and political debate is dangerous, calling for an end to 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, and there is nothing antisemitic about recognizing that fact.
Calling Mark Ruffalo antisemitic because he is questioning a massive corporate merger is not only absurd – it’s a dangerous way to shut down legitimate criticism,
Ilana Glazer, the former Broad City star, said in an additional statement. On Tuesday, Oscar-winning filmmaker and playwright Kenneth Lonergan shared a letter in support of Ruffalo. Einbinder — who is Jewish and has been outspoken in her support for Palestinian rights — also thanked Ruffalo for drawing a connection between the Ellisons providing military technology to Israel during a genocide and their unprecedented media takeover.
Corporate Mergers, Oracle Technology, and the Ellison Family Connections
The confrontation centers on the proposed $111bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) by Paramount Skydance, a media company owned by David Ellison, a Donald Trump ally. On August 21, Ruffalo shared an old clip on his Instagram story featuring Safra Catz, former Oracle CEO and current executive vice-chair, proudly highlighting the company’s work to support Israel following the Hamas-led October 2023 attack on southern Israel, claiming the California-based tech company helped advance the agenda for the Israeli military during its genocide in Gaza.
We have some really profoundly scary technology at Oracle and we wanted to make sure that it was available for the effort,
Catz said. Ruffalo criticized Larry Ellison — cofounder of tech giant Oracle whose family owns Paramount, worth an estimated $189bn, and who agreed to personally backstop $40.4bn in equity financing to help Paramount Skydance acquire WBD — for using Oracle to fund his son David’s Warner Bros acquisition.
These ‘really profoundly scary technologies’ will most likely be merged into one of the largest media conglomerates in the world and one day used on you,
Ruffalo wrote. Ruffalo urged his followers to oppose the merger, which he claimed would be almost always bad for workers, consumers, and the industry they tend to dominate, and catastrophic for the entertainment industry.
Paramount and Advocacy Group Responses to the Controversy
Paramount swiftly condemned Ruffalo’s commentary, arguing in a statement that it was troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute, and accused Ruffalo of invoking anti-Semitic tropes, saying references to genocide and apartheid in connection with a corporate transaction went a bridge too far. The staunchly pro-Israel Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO, Jim Berk, denounced Ruffalo’s comment as a textbook case of obsession and demonisation of Jews, while another Israel supporter, Anti-Defamation League head Jonathan Greenblatt, labelled the statement cynical and sickening. Additionally, the Creative Community for Peace condemned Ruffalo’s comments, and an industry group including Haim Saban, Teddy Schwarzman, and Lawrence Bender wrote that it was unacceptable to introduce Jews, antizionism, or antisemitism into conversations about business transactions, simply because those involved are Jewish.
A spokesperson for Catz also responded by saying the technology she referenced was in fact intended for use in rescuing hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack. Ruffalo hit back, rejecting the Paramount allegation as appalling and fundamentally dishonest, adding: Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people.
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