Actor Mark Ruffalo joins the “No Kings Day” protest against US President Donald Trump’s policies, in New York City, US, June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

A group of nearly 1,000 Hollywood industry figures released a statement on Tuesday condemning “antisemitic theories” in Mark Ruffalo’s criticism of the pending Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

“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,” they said in a statement cited by Variety, adding that there is “no excuse and no defense for this rhetoric.”

The group includes nearly 1,000 “members, friends, and allies of the Jewish community” who work in film, television, music, Broadway, social and digital, and other platforms in and around the entertainment industry. Those backing the statement include American-Israeli billionaire Haim Saban, Black Bear founder and CEO Teddy Schwarzman, and “Pulp Fiction” producer Lawrence Bender.

“It is unacceptable to introduce Jews, antizionism [sic], or antisemitism into conversations about business transactions, simply because those involved are Jewish,” the group noted in their statement. “This is not commentary on a merger. It is not a criticism of a government. This is simple antisemitism, where Jewish executives are portrayed as a secretive and powerful wealth-hoarding elite delighting in mass death. 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.”

“This is a callous continuation of the ongoing campaign by the same individuals and groups targeting Jewish people and the state of Israel, a pattern of antisemitism and misinformation that puts our community in grave danger,” the statement continued.

The statement was released on behalf of a group called The Brigade, which includes Hollywood figures such as Ram Bergman, Lynn Harris, Matti Leshem, Anthony Bregman, Ben Cosgrove, Jamie Patricof, Craig Emanuel, Shep Rosenman, Ben Cosgrove, Matthew Hiltzik, Micah Green, Michael Auerbach, and Gary Gilbert.

Ruffalo made the offensive comments on Friday while denouncing Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Paramount’s CEO is David Ellison, and his father, Larry Ellison, is the founder of the technology company Oracle. While criticizing the merger, Ruffalo connected the Ellisons and Oracle to Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. For several years now, Ruffalo has been very vocal in criticizing Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

On Friday, the Marvel actor, who is currently starring in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” posted on his Instagram Story a 2024 clip of Jewish Paramount board member and former Oracle CEO Safra Catz speaking at the Israeli-American Council National Summit about the tech giant and its relation to the Israeli military.

The four-time Oscar nominee commented on the video and wrote, “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.” Ruffalo accused Oracle of financing Paramount Skydance and said the Ellisons are “crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power,” accusing them of “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world.”

Paramount responded to Ruffalo’s claims later that same day, saying it was “troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported 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 added in part. “We understand people feel strongly about this merger and are hopeful and expect that it will be judged based on the legal merits, not underlying bias.”

In response, Ruffalo issued his own statement on Saturday and called the accusation that he is antisemitic “appalling and fundamentally dishonest.”

Several major Jewish groups and leaders have since criticized Ruffalo’s comments in relation to the merger, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), Creative Community for Peace, Anti-Defamation League, LA Jewish Federation, Zionist Organization of American (ZOA) National President Mort Klein, and Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation President and Director General Jack Simony.

LA Jewish Federation CEO Noah Farkas called Ruffalo’s statement an “unhinged rant, which combined Jewish wealth, media control, secret technology, and sinister global power.”

CCFP called for Hollywood to boycott Ruffalo until he apologizes and retracts his statements. CCFP Executive Director Ari Ingel said Ruffalo’s comments criticizing the merger “increasingly fuses hostility toward Israel and Zionism with Jewish-associated wealth, media ownership, oligarchic power, and ominous warnings about concentrated control into a single narrative.”

“Words matter, and so does the willingness to draw a line when legitimate debate gives way to antisemitic tropes,” said SWC CEO Jim Berk.

“We commend [Paramount] for speaking clearly and refusing to allow prejudice to masquerade as political or corporate criticism. At a time when antisemitism is too often minimized, rationalized or repackaged in more socially acceptable language, this kind of moral clarity matters,” Berk added. “Invoking Israel in an issue where it is completely irrelevant is a textbook case of obsession and demonization. Paramount was right to call it out. More leaders and institutions should have the courage to call antisemitism what it is, regardless of who is spreading it.”

Those in Hollywood who have expressed support for Ruffalo’s comments about the merger include Oscar winner Jane Fonda, Emmy-winning “Hacks” star Hannah Einbeinder, and John Cusack.