Over 180 Jews Defend Mark Ruffalo in Letter Against Antisemitism Allegations

Variety obtained exclusive access to a letter in which more than 180 Jewish figures from the entertainment world and other sectors signed in defense of Mark Ruffalo after the actor became the target of a "smear campaign" and was accused of antisemitism over his criticism of the merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Among the signatories are Joaquin Phoenix, Jonathan Glazer, Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Ilana Glazer, Hannah Einbinder, James Schamus, Emma Seligman, Tony Kushner, Jane Schoenbrun, and Wallace Shawn.

The controversy began on August 21, when Ruffalo posted a video of Oracle executive Safra Catz discussing technologies used to assist the Israeli military and linked the case to the merger, claiming that Oracle, led by Larry Ellison, would finance the acquisition by his son, David Ellison. Ruffalo wrote that the technologies mentioned by Catz "will likely be folded into one of the largest media conglomerates in the world and one day used against you," and questioned why former President Trump would have "pushed this illegal merger."

In response, a Paramount spokesperson accused Ruffalo of invoking "antisemitic tropes." Ruffalo pushed back, saying the accusation of antisemitism was "shocking and fundamentally dishonest." "Criticizing the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives providing it is not the same as criticizing Jewish people," he said.

The letter published this Tuesday echoes Ruffalo's defense and argues that the accusations are a "false and dangerous weapon" used to silence criticism. "Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is exactly the opposite of antisemitism. To us, it is the very essence of Jewish ethical duty," the document states.

Ilana Glazer, who also signed the letter, said in a statement: "Calling Mark Ruffalo antisemitic because he is questioning a massive corporate merger is not just absurd — it is a dangerous way to shut down legitimate criticism. Mark has consistently spoken out against antisemitism while standing up for Palestinian rights and the dignity of all people."

Read the full letter below:

"We are Jewish artists, writers, creative professionals, faith leaders and thinkers who have, in response to the outrageous smear campaign against our respected colleague Mark Ruffalo, a simple message to share with the world: Enough! 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 proposed merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery is no mere combination of two huge multinational companies. Yes, it will destroy thousands upon thousands of livelihoods. Yes, it will further consolidate the oligarchic control of our media (witness the gutting of CBS News). Yes, it will strangle competition and creativity in film and television production and distribution.

But it will do all this and more 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. We all saw this after their Trump-brokered takeover of TikTok — a takeover they openly proclaimed was in large part motivated by their desire to boost pro-Israel propaganda. Larry Ellison personally, with his astonishing purported $350 million in funding and pledges to the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, has been Blair’s major backer as Blair assumes an influential role in the Trump-concocted “Board of Peace” takeover of Gaza, a territory which has become an open-air laboratory for AI-driven killing and control technologies like the ones celebrated by former Oracle CEO (and current Oracle and Paramount board member) Safra Catz.

The AI road to WarnerMount runs through Gaza, and Ellison has often let us know the Orwellian world he has in store for us as he consolidates control over what we watch and how we watch it, knowing that as we watch he and his corrupt cohort will always be watching us: “Citizens will be on their best behavior because we’re constantly recording and reporting.”

Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism. It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty. According to a recent Washington Post poll, 61% of American Jews now agree that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza; and four in ten even agree that these crimes amount to genocide. Do those attacking Mark Ruffalo as an antisemite seriously believe that all these American Jews are antisemites too? Or that we don’t see the connection between, on the one hand, the criminal impunities that have led the US and Israel into unending disaster and, on the other, the oligarchic powerplays of the Musks, Ellisons, Thiels and others who are working to dismantle our democracy?

But the virulence and falseness of the slanders they direct towards their critics is evidence of the increasing weakness of their position, based as it is on innuendos. Today, more and more people of conscience are joining together, to loudly and univocally proclaim: The time is over for spurious charges of antisemitism to be trotted out, this time in the defense of war, oligarchy, and AI domination. That tired playbook has run its course.

We stand proudly with Mark Ruffalo, and with all decent people who are bravely rising and speaking truth to power."

Full list of signatories:

• Aaron Costa Ganis, Actor

• Abbi Jacobson, Actress/Comedian

• Alan Snitow, Filmmaker

• Alex Winter, Actor/Filmmaker

• Alison Klayman, Filmmaker

• Alison Leiby, Writer/Comedian

• Alissa Weiss, Rabbi

• Allie Gross, Writer

• Amos Goldberg, Holocaust Historian, Hebrew University

• Amy Ziering, Filmmaker

• Anat Matar, Senior Professor (Retired), Tel Aviv University

• Andrea Weiss, Filmmaker

• Andrue Kahn, Rabbi

• Anjuli Kronheim Katz, Lawyer

• Anna Pollack, Director

• Anthony Arnove, Writer/Producer

• Ariel Friedlander, Artist

• Ariel Wengroff, Artist

• Atalia Omer, Professor, University of Notre Dame

• Avi Shlaim, Professor (Emeritus), St Antony’s College

• Ayelet Waldman, Author

• Barry Trachtenberg, Professor, Wake Forest University

• Bella Freud, Designer

• Ben Korman, Producer

• Ben Moser, Author

• Ben Natan, Actor/Producer

• Brian A. Kates, Editor

• Bruce Cohen, Producer

• Camille Lévy Sarfati, Author/Curator

• Cat Davis, Rabbi

• Chani Nicholas, Astrologer

• Charlie Goldensohn, Strategist/Commentator

• Charlotte Sheedy, Literary Agent

• Cindi Leive, Journalist

• Collier Meyerson, Writer

• Craig Aaron, Journalist

• Dana Kornberg, Associate Professor, UC Santa Barbara

• Daniel Levy, Political Analyst

• David Borenstien, Filmmaker

• David Mivasair, Rabbi

• David Vine, Author

• David Wilson, Filmmaker

• David Zirin, Writer

• Deborah Eisenberg, Writer

• Deborah Kaufman, Filmmaker

• Deborah Shaffer, Filmmaker

• Debra Winger, Actress

• Deidre Fishel, Filmmaker

• Dr. Mark Perlmutter, Physician

• Einat Weizman, Filmmaker

• Emily Kunstler, Filmmaker

• Emma Seligman, Filmmaker

• Erin Axelman, Filmmaker

• Estee Chandler, Radio Host/Producer

• Estelle Tarica, Professor, UC Berkeley

• Ethan Sacks, Writer

• Frances Fisher, Actress

• Gabor Maté, Physician/Author

• Gili Getz, Photographer

• Gina Gershon, Actress

• Ginny Suss, Producer

• Hana Morgenstern, Associate Professor, Newnham College

• Hannah Einbinder, Actress

• Henry Bean, Writer

• Howard Rodman, Writer

• Hunter Abrams, Photographer

• Idith Korman, Musician/Composer

• Ilana Glazer, Actress/Writer/Director

• Ilise Cohen, Academic

• Itamar Ziegler, Composer/Musician

• James Renton, Professor, Edge Hill University

• James Schamus, Filmmaker

• James Wilson, Producer

• Jamie Zelermeyer, Producer

• Jane Schoenbrun, Filmmaker

• Jason Kliot, Filmmaker

• Jason Rosenberg, Public Health Advocate

• Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte, Producer

• Jenna Weiss-Berman, Producer

• Jennifer L. Pozner, Author

• Jeremiah Zagar, Director

• Jeremy Yaches, Producer

• Jesse Mechanic, Writer

• Jill Goldman, Artist

• Jillian Neal, Manager

• Jo Firestone, Comedian/Actress

• Joaquin Phoenix, Actor

• Joel Beinin, Professor (Emeritus), Stanford University

• Joel Coen, Filmmaker

• Jon Reiss, Filmmaker

• Jonathan Feingold, Professor, Boston University School of Law

• Jonathan Glazer, Filmmaker

• Jonathan Lethem, Writer

• Josette Maskin, Musician

• Karin Loevy, Professor, NYU School of Law

• Kate Berlant, Actress

• Kathy Wazana, Filmmaker

• Katie Halper, Journalist

• Lance Kramer, Producer

• Larry Charles, Writer/Director

• Laura Kraftowitz, Writer

• Leora Barish, Writer

• Lex Rofeberg, Rabbi

• Libby Lenkinski, Producer

• Linda Holtzman, Rabbi

• Lindsay Beyerstein, Journalist

• Lior Sternfeld, Associate Professor, Penn State University

• Lisa Cholodenko, Filmmaker

• Lonnie Kleinman, Rabbi

• Liz Flahive, Writer

• Mara Hoffman, Artist

• Marc Weiss, Filmmaker

• Marianne Hirsch, Professor, Columbia University

• Maris Kreizman, Writer

• Mark LeVine, Professor, UC Irvine

• Mati Shemoelof, Author/Poet

• Matt Bernstein, Content Creator

• Max Zev Reynolds, Rabbi

• Meryl Crean, Rabbi

• Michael Greif, Director

• Michael J. Drexler, Associate Professor, Bucknell University

• Michael Skolnik, Organizer

• Michael Rothberg, Professor, UCLA

• Miranda July, Filmmaker/Writer

• Mneesha Gellman, Professor, Emerson College

• Molly Crabapple, Author/Artist

• Mordechai Liebling, Rabbi

• Morgan Bassichis, Writer/Performer

• Morgan Spector, Actor

• Naomi Klein, Author/Professor

• Nathan Thrall, Author

• Nicole Morse, Educator

• Nina Menkes, Filmmaker

• Noa Avishag Schnall, Journalist

• Orian Zakai, Associate Professor, George Washington University

• Orli Matlow, Comedian

• Peter Beinart, Journalist

• Phyllis Bennis, Writer

• Rachel Leah Jones, Filmmaker

• Rain Phoenix, Musician

• Raphael Greenberg, Professor (Emeritus), Tel Aviv University

• Raz Segal, Associate Professor, Stockton University

• Rebecca Vilkomerson, Author/Analyst

• Rick Pearlstein, Author

• Rinat Abastado, Rabbinical Student

• Roee Rosen, Artist

• Romy Soleimani, Makeup Artist

• Rosanna Arquette, Actress/Director

• Sai Koros, Rabbinical Student

• Sandi DuBowski, Filmmaker

• Sarah Kunstler, Filmmaker

• Sarah Schulman, Writer

• Sarah Sherman, Comedian/Actress

• Sarah Sophie Flicker, Artist

• Shira Klein, Associate Professor, Chapman University

• Sigal Primor, Artist

• Simone Zimmerman, Podcast Host

• Spencer Ackerman, Author

• Steve Quester, Anti-Racism Coach

• Steven Katz, Writer

• Susan Margolin, Filmmaker

• Susan S. Lanser, Professor (Emerita), Brandeis University

• Tami Gold, Filmmaker

• Tamir Sorek, Professor, Penn State University

• Tavi Gevinson, Actress/Writer

• Ted Hope, Filmmaker

• Terri Ginsberg, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University

• Tia Lessen, Filmmaker

• Todd Haynes, Filmmaker

• Tony Gerber, Filmmaker

• Tony Kushner, Writer/Playwright

• Udi Aloni, Filmmaker

• Udi Raz, Writer

• V (formerly Eve Ensler), Playwright/Author

• Vanessa Hope, Filmmaker

• Vanessa Nunes, Physician

• Wallace Shawn, Actor/Playwright

• Wendy Ettinger, Filmmaker

• Yael Bridge, Filmmaker

• Yael Ronen, Director

• Yoni Golijov, Filmmaker

• Zach Woods, Filmmaker

• Zachary Foster, Historian

• Zachary Lochman, Professor, NYU