Los Angeles, Aug 26 (IANS) Hollywood actress Jane Fonda has come out in support of actor Mark Ruffalo after he was slammed for his alleged “antisemitic” behaviour.
The actor had earlier denounced Larry Ellison’s ties to Israel and David Ellison’s planned merger with Warner Bros. Following the same, Paramount accused him of “antisemitism”.
Now, the actress has stepped in to lend her support to the actor, as she released an official statement.
She wrote in a statement shared to the Committee for the 1st Amendment on Instagram, “Especially as a Jewish American, I find it deeply troubling to see false accusations of antisemitism used to silence legitimate political criticism in this country”.
She further mentioned, “Antisemitism is real and dangerous, which is precisely why the charge should never be used as a cudgel against people whose political views you dislike, in this case as dedicated a crusader for democracy as Mark, whom we are proud to have as a Committee member and to be in this fight with us”.
“Mark Ruffalo has a First Amendment right to speak out about politics, powerful corporations and this dangerous merger, full stop. Calling his criticism antisemitic is a smear to delegitimize criticism of the merger and to distract from the question Paramount would rather not answer, Should one company be allowed to accumulate this much power over our movies, television and news?”, she added.
Prior to this, the actor took to his X, formerly Twitter, and penned a long note in which he lashed out at Paramount after the company slammed him.
He wrote, “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 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”, he shared.
--IANS
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