Jewish artists defend Mark Ruffalo

More than 170 prominent Jewish artists, filmmakers, and writers have publicly defended actor Mark Ruffalo against accusations of antisemitism. The controversy stems from Ruffalo's criticism of the proposed $111 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery, a deal backed by financiers with ties to Israel's military.

Signatories of the open letter, titled "Enough!", include director Todd Haynes, filmmaker Joel Coen, artist Miranda July, comedian Hannah Einbinder, actor Wallace Shawn, and author Naomi Klein. They collectively dismiss the charge against Ruffalo as part of an "outrageous smear campaign." The letter calls for an end to what it describes as the false weaponization of antisemitism claims to silence critics of Israeli policy and corporate power.

The merger and the accusations

Ruffalo's initial criticism focused on the links between Paramount Skydance, its owner David Ellison, and Oracle, the technology company owned by Ellison's father, Larry Ellison. Oracle has long supplied software to the Israel Defense Forces. In a social media statement, Ruffalo shared a video of former Oracle CEO Safra Catz describing "really profoundly scary technology" provided to Israel after the October 2023 Hamas attack. He accused Larry Ellison of using Oracle to fund his son's acquisition and linked the software deals to the media merger.

Paramount responded by saying it was "troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute." In a follow-up statement, Ruffalo argued that criticizing a military technology contract or specific executives is not the same as criticizing Jewish people. He claimed such dialogue is dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel.

The letter's core argument

The signatories' letter affirms Ruffalo's argument against the merger, which secured approval from the Trump administration in June. It frames the corporate consolidation as part of a larger project of tech-driven domination explicitly linked by its backers to support for Israeli actions in Palestine. "Pointing out the crucial connections between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening in Hollywood is the exact opposite of antisemitism," the letter states. "It is, for us, the very essence of Jewish ethical duty."

The letter argues the merger's impact extends beyond business. It warns the deal will destroy thousands of livelihoods, consolidate oligarchic media control, and strangle competition and creativity. Former Broad City star Ilana Glazer, in a separate statement, called the accusation against Ruffalo absurd and dangerous. "Calling Mark Ruffalo antisemitic because he is questioning a massive corporate merger is not only absurd, it's a dangerous way to shut down legitimate criticism," she said.

A pattern of tech-political ties

The letter cites a pattern of connections between the financial backers of the merger, U.S. politics, and support for Israel's military campaign. It mentions the Trump-brokered sale of TikTok by ByteDance to U.S. investors including Oracle. It also notes Larry Ellison's reported $350 million in personal funding of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change during Blair's unsuccessful bid for a role on Trump's Gaza peace board, a bid backed by Jared Kushner.

Oracle executives' public backing of Israel's military strikes in Gaza is highlighted, with the letter describing Gaza as "an open-air laboratory for AI-driven killing and control technologies" celebrated by company officials. Ruffalo urged his followers to oppose the merger, which he claimed would be "catastrophic" for the entertainment industry. He warned that the "really profoundly scary technologies" provided to Israel could one day be merged into one of the world's largest media conglomerates and used on the public.

The collective of artists concludes that the assault on Palestinian people and the assault on liberties at home are deeply interconnected. They assert there is nothing antisemitic about recognizing that fact.