Warner Bros. Discovery rejects calls to boycott Israeli film industry
WBD becomes second major Hollywood studio after Paramount to come out against pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions, saying ‘our policies prohibit discrimination of any kind’
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Warner Bros. Discovery on Thursday rejected industry calls to boycott Israeli film institutions, becoming the second major Hollywood studio to do so after Paramount.
“Warner Bros. Discovery is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment for its employees, collaborators and other stakeholders. Our policies prohibit discrimination of any kind, including discrimination based on race, religion, national origin or ancestry. We believe a boycott of Israeli film institutions violates our policies,” it said in a statement to US news outlets.
“While we respect the rights of individuals and groups to express their views and advocate for causes, we will continue to align our business practices with the requirements of our policies and the law.”
The statement, which came amid a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, was in response to a pledge that now has over 5,000 signatures charging that Israeli film institutions “are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.”
Among the pledges’ signatories are actors Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Riz Ahmed, Javier Bardem, Joaquin Phoenix, Emma D’Arcy, Eric Andre, Elliot Page and Cynthia Nixon.
Paramount, which is reportedly seeking to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, denounced the pledge last month, saying “silencing individual creative artists based on their nationality does not promote better understanding or advance the cause of peace.”
The pledge is distinct from other previous arts and culture Israel boycotts in naming specific Israeli cultural institutions that the letter’s signatories are boycotting, including major Israeli film festivals.
The pledge does not specifically target Israeli individuals. Instead, the document says the “refusal takes aim at institutional complicity, not identity,” and that “a few Israeli film entities are not complicit.”
It was one of several open letters signed by prominent figures from the worlds of cinema, music and literature as the Israeli government faced growing pressure to end the nearly two-year war against Hamas in Gaza sparked by the terror group’s invasion and massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023, and urgently address the humanitarian crisis there.
Agencies contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.