Mark Ruffalo Paramount+ merger controversy: Actor denies antisemitism claims

Mark Ruffalo rejected Paramount’s accusation that his criticism of the company’s pending Warner Bros. Discovery merger relied on antisemitic tropes.

The dispute escalated after Ruffalo posted a video on his official Instagram handle; in the video, the Oracle executive vice chair Safra Catz discussed technology the company made available to the Israeli military following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack.

In his post, Ruffalo accused David and Larry Ellison of “powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world,” tying the criticism to his broader opposition to Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, given that Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder, is the father of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison.

On Saturday, Paramount responded with a statement and noted that the company was “troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute,” adding: “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.

This doesn’t deserve a response in kind, and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone.”  The company added that it hoped the merger would ultimately “be judged based on the legal merits, not underlying bias,” calling for “less rhetoric, more understanding” from both sides. Ruffalo pushed back forcefully on X the same day.

“The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest. Criticising the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract, or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticising Jewish people. This critical and necessary dialogue is then dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel.”

Read more: Mark Ruffalo escalates campaign against $111B Paramount-Warner Bros. merger

He added that his 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.” The exchange has drawn additional voices into the debate.

Ari Engel, executive director of the advocacy group Creative Community for Peace, sided with Paramount’s characterisation, saying in a statement: “Mark Ruffalo’s rhetoric has increasingly crossed the line from criticism of Israel into extremist and antisemitic messaging.”

Ruffalo has previously walked back similar language in the past; in 2021, amid an earlier wave of Israel-Hamas fighting, he apologised for social media posts suggesting Israel was committing “genocide,” calling the term “inaccurate” and “inflammatory” at the time. The underlying merger dispute remains unresolved.

Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is currently on hold as a federal judge considers a lawsuit from a coalition of state attorneys general challenging the deal on antitrust grounds, with a ruling possibly not expected until next June.