Jewish Hollywood creatives defend Mark Ruffalo after accusations of antisemitism

More than 170 Jewish artists, writers and cultural figures rallied behind Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo on Tuesday after Paramount and prominent Jewish members of the entertainment industry accused him of using antisemitic tropes while campaigning against the studio’s proposed takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

The letter denounced what its signatories called an “outrageous smear campaign” against Ruffalo and rejected the contention that his criticism of Israel, the Oracle software company’s work with the Israeli military, and the Ellison family’s expanding media interests was inherently antisemitic.

Paramount CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who is personally guaranteeing the equity needed for the acquisition; the Ellison family would control the combined company if the deal goes through, according to the LA Times.

Among the most prominent signatories was “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder, who had previously defended the 58-year-old Marvel actor against the antisemitism allegations.

Other signatories included filmmakers and performers Joel Coen, Tony Kushner, Ilana Glazer, Lisa Cholodenko and Todd Haynes.

The signatories also turned their attention to Paramount Skydance’s proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal Ruffalo has been a prominent opponent of.

The letter characterized the merger as “tech-driven domination” involving Larry Ellison and his business interests, while arguing that links between developments in Hollywood and the war in Gaza were legitimate subjects for criticism.

The letter described the proposed deal as “part of a larger project of tech-driven domination, a project Larry Ellison and his partners have never been shy about trumpeting — and one they themselves have explicitly linked to their support for the ongoing depredations being visited on the people of Palestine and their silencing of critics of those horrors.”

“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, and there is nothing antisemitic about recognizing that fact,” the group wrote.

The letter also portrayed the merger as part of what it called an increasingly “Orwellian” concentration of technology and media power, accusing Ellison of seeking greater control over both what people watch and the technology capable of monitoring them.

Paramount declined to comment on the letter, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Oracle has long supplied products to the Israel Defense Forces. The head of its sales division, Shmulik Hauser, told the Ynet news site in 2025 that “supporting Israel is in our DNA – even if it costs us clients. That’s our agenda.” Oracle Israel, a subsidiary of the parent company, has two locations, in Petah Tikva and Beersheba.

Ruffalo brought Israel into the dispute in an August social media post in which he shared an older video of Safra Catz, Oracle’s former CEO and a current Paramount board member, discussing technology the company made available to Israel following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

Ruffalo used the footage to attack Oracle’s involvement with the Israeli military and again described Israel’s campaign in Gaza as “genocide” and its policies as “apartheid.” He accused the father-and-son moguls of “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world.”

Israel has vehemently rejected accusations that it has committed genocide in Gaza, saying its war was directed against Hamas and pointing to measures it says were intended to reduce civilian casualties.

Paramount responded to Ruffalo by accusing him of injecting antisemitic tropes into a corporate dispute, saying that using terms such as “genocide” and “apartheid” in connection with a business transaction was “a bridge too far.”

Ruffalo, known for playing the Hulk in Marvel films, rejected the allegation on X, calling the charge of antisemitism “appalling and fundamentally dishonest.” He argued that criticizing Israel’s government, military technology contracts or the executives involved was not equivalent to attacking Jewish people, and said Jewish friends, colleagues and loved ones had profoundly influenced his life.

The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest. 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. This critical and necessary dialogue…

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) August 22, 2026

Hollywood split over Ruffalo

The dispute quickly spread beyond Ruffalo and Paramount, exposing a sharp divide among Jewish figures in Hollywood over whether the actor’s rhetoric amounted to legitimate political criticism or invoked longstanding antisemitic tropes.

The Brigade, a Hollywood group describing itself as comprising nearly 1,000 members, friends and allies of the Jewish community, accused Ruffalo of singling out Jewish executives and portraying them through tropes of secretive wealth and power. It said invoking Israel in that context echoed conspiracy theories historically weaponized against Jews. It said his rhetoric had crossed the line from legitimate criticism into antisemitism.

The Brigade’s members include producers Haim Saban, Lawrence Bender, Teddy Schwarzman, Ram Bergman and Matti Leshem.

The new open letter amounted to an organized Jewish rebuttal to that charge, arguing that criticism of Israel, Oracle and the Ellisons’ business interests should not be conflated with hostility toward Jews.