January 1, RABBIS EXPOSE HOLLYWOOD STARS FOR WHITEWASHING ANTISEMITISM IN MARK RUFFALO DEFENSE

Wyatt’s Take

• Traditional rabbis are calling out Jewish entertainers who defended Mark Ruffalo’s attacks on Jewish business leaders.
• Ruffalo tied a corporate merger to false claims of genocide and apartheid, reviving classic antisemitic smears.
• More than 170 Hollywood figures rushed to dismiss the bigotry charges as an outrageous smear campaign.

A rabbinic group representing thousands of traditional Orthodox rabbis is speaking out against Jewish entertainers who defended actor Mark Ruffalo after he accused Jewish executives of fueling genocide and apartheid.

Dozens of Jewish entertainers signed a letter this week proudly backing Ruffalo. They dismissed accusations of antisemitism as nothing more than a smear campaign.

The Coalition for Jewish Values, which speaks for more than 2,500 traditional rabbis, rarely comments on Hollywood figures. But they say Ruffalo’s comments left these entertainers no choice but to deny obvious bigotry.

“Ruffalo did not merely criticize a business deal. In an August 22 Instagram post tying the Paramount-Skydance/Warner Bros. merger to Oracle’s work with Israel, Ruffalo claimed that the Ellison family — who are Jewish — were ‘powering some of the most destructive and inhuman forces in the world,’ and framed a corporate transaction as built on ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid.’ That is not policy criticism, but mischaracterization of civil rights for Jews and Arabs as racism, and the rescue of Jewish hostages as murder,” the Coalition for Jewish Values said in a statement.

“Nonetheless, more than 170 Jewish entertainment figures rushed to sign a letter dismissing the antisemitism charge as an ‘outrageous smear campaign.’ To be certain, they are entitled to their ignorant and misguided views,” the statement continued. “They are not, however, entitled to be taken seriously when they engage in whitewashing antisemitism, or suggest that those with sufficient discernment to recognize the oldest of anti-Jewish tropes should deny the obvious.”

The group pointed out that America has always rejected hatred of Jews no matter how it is dressed up. They reminded Ruffalo that he owes his career to the Founding Fathers who welcomed Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution in Europe.

“It is some of those children, working in New York in the early 20th century, who created Marvel Comics and invented The Incredible Hulk,” the group said.

Rabbi Yaakov Menken, executive vice president for the Coalition for Jewish Values, called Ruffalo’s remarks embarrassing. He said the actor has a mythical inversion of the situation in the Middle East.

Ruffalo came under fire after he shared a video of Safra Catz, an Oracle executive, discussing technology that helped Israel after the October 7 Hamas attacks. He linked Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison to the merger and claimed it would push oppression.

“These ‘really profoundly scary technologies’ will most likely be merged into one of the largest media conglomerates in the world and one day used on you,” Ruffalo said. “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.”

The entertainers who signed the letter include Abbi Jacobson, Alex Winter, Gina Gershon, Ilana Glazer, James Schamus, Joel Coen, Larry Charles, Kate Berlant, Naomi Klein, Sarah Sherman, Jane Schoenbrun, Todd Haynes and Tony Kushner. They claimed most American Jews believe Israel is guilty of genocide and war crimes.

“The accusation that I am antisemitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest,” Ruffalo said. “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.”

The proposed merger would put CNN, HBO and Warner Bros. under the Ellison family’s control. A group of state attorneys general sued to block the deal on antitrust grounds.

Wyatt Matters

Hard-working Americans built this country on truth, faith, and the courage to call evil by its name. When Hollywood elites try to twist words and rewrite history, they insult the very people who gave them the freedom to speak in the first place.