Powerful Hollywood execs accuse Mark Ruffalo of antisemitism in Paramount attack

A Hollywood industry group that includes producers Haim Saban, Lawrence Bender, Teddy Schwarzman and others released a statement on Tuesday accusing actor Mark Ruffalo of using “antisemitic tropes” in recent criticism of the Paramount bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.

The statement came from 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.”

The Brigade condemned what they said was Ruffalo’s use of antisemitic tropes and narratives in an Instagram post last week in which he accused father-and-son moguls David and Larry Ellison of “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world.”

In the actor’s August 21 post on Instagram, where he has 20 million followers, Ruffalo posted a past clip of Paramount board member Safra Catz, former CEO of Oracle, discussing “really profoundly scary technologies” that Larry Ellison’s Oracle used to assist the Israeli military following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza.

Ruffalo referred to Larry Ellison as a “classic Oligarch” in his post, and warned of danger he said was posed by Ellison’s son, Paramount CEO David Ellison, who is bidding to combine Paramount with Warner Bros. Discovery.

The actor has opposed the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger over concerns about Hollywood jobs. He has also long condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

In reference to the Catz clip, Ruffalo told his followers to “look how she revels in what we now have come to see as a genocide, which was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle.”

Software-maker 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.

After Ruffalo’s social media post, a spokesperson for Paramount accused the actor of using antisemitic tropes in service of a business dispute.

“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,” Paramount responded. “This doesn’t deserve a response in kind — and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone.”

Ruffalo then fired back on X, stating that the “accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest.”

“To be clear, my views come from my own political convictions and should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people, for whom I have deep love and respect. 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.”

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

In a follow-up response, The Brigade, which includes Power Rangers producer Saban, Bender of “Pulp Fiction” fame, as well as Ram Bergman, Matti Leshem, Anthony Bregman, Micah Green and Lynn Harris, accused Ruffalo of using antisemitic rhetoric.

“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,” stated the group. “It is unacceptable to introduce Jews, anti-Zionism, or antisemitism into conversations about business transactions, simply because those involved are Jewish.”

“This is not commentary on a merger,” The Brigade wrote in its letter. “It is not a criticism of a government. It is simple antisemitism, where Jewish executives are portrayed as a secretive and powerful wealth-hoarding elite delighting in mass death,” it wrote.

“This is the same rhetoric that Nazis, Soviets, and the Klan weaponized against Jews, and its consequences are not only historical: they show up today in attacks against Jews in our streets, our synagogues, and our schools.”

The letter added, “There is no excuse and no defense for this rhetoric, including the ‘I have Jewish friends’ rationale, and there are many questions that demand an answer — including, is there someone behind the funding of this campaign that is continuously perpetrated by the same individuals?”

“We will keep standing up against this hatred. Because when we say, NEVER AGAIN, we mean it.”

(Bender, the producer behind “Red Alert,” a drama series produced by Israel’s Keshet Media Group about the Hamas-led terror onslaught, has credited Paramount+ for acquiring and screening the series on October 7, 2025, the second anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attack.)

On Tuesday, “Hacks” star and Jewish activist Hannah Einbinder backed Ruffalo on her own Instagram, writing, “I’m so grateful that Mark Ruffalo drew a connection between the Ellisons providing military technology to Israel during a genocide and their unprecedented media takeover — and pointed out that this is a dangerous consolidation of power that could ultimately be used against us.” She continued, “The idea that he only said these things because the Ellisons are Jewish is LUDICROUS.”

“And I’ll say it till I’m blue in the face: Every time Zionists equate criticism of Israel, its genocide, or anyone who supports it to antisemitism, they rob the word of all of its meaning. For those of us who ACTUALLY care about Jewish safety, we want that word to mean something so that when Jews are actually in danger it’s taken seriously,” she wrote.

Einbinder said all artists should be more like Ruffalo, willing to speak out for oppressed people everywhere.

Other Jewish advocacy groups have called out Ruffalo, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which also accused him of spreading antisemitic tropes.

Ari Ingel, executive director of Creative Community for Peace, a pro-Israel industry group, also said in a statement: “Mark Ruffalo’s rhetoric has increasingly crossed the line from criticism of Israel into extremist and antisemitic messaging.”