As things continue to get ugly around the proposed merger, Mark Ruffalo has called out Paramount for calling him “antisemitic” over his criticism of the Warner Bros acquisition.
On Saturday, the 4x Oscar nominee clarified his views “should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people,” following his comments about Paramount-WBD backer Oracle‘s involvement in supplying technology amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest,” he began on X. “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 is then dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel. 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.”
Ruffalo continued, “This merger has real consequences for real people, and for the entire country. Scrutinizing the Ellisons, including Oracle’s business built on data, surveillance technology and government contracts, and the serious threat to editorial freedom and the loss of a livelihood for thousands of families, is fair and necessary. The $111 billion deal would hand one family control over CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., backed in part by foreign money whose influence on editorial decisions has never been fully explained to the public.
“Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for serious national security review, and regulators still haven’t given the public a real answer. Until they do, the merger shouldn’t move forward. Now is the time to dive boldly into all these issues, not step back or concede,” he added.
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…
After Ruffalo shared a video of Oracle’s executive vice chair Safra Catz discussing how they made some “really profoundly scary technology” available to the Israeli military in its attacks on Gaza, Paramount responded saying they are “troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute.”
“This doesn’t deserve a response in kind — and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone,” a Paramount spokesperson said.
Claims of antisemitism have been leveled against several in Hollywood over recent years, in many cases, falsely used to describe those who criticize Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
In February, Netflix threw in the towel on the Warner Bros. deal, refusing to raise its bid against Paramount Skydance’s “superior” $31-per-share offer, following the $82.7 billion deal Netflix signed with WBD in December before the Ellison-owned company launched its hostile takeover.
Ruffalo previously teamed up with attorney Norm Eisen in April to urge state officials to enact antitrust laws and block the hostile takeover, accumulating more than 5,000 signatures on an open letter claiming the merger will “threaten the sustainability of the entire creative community.” The letter was organized by the Committee for the First Amendment, the Future Film Coalition, the Writers Guild of America and the Democracy Defenders Fund.
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