Todd Haynes and Wallace Shawn among signatories of letter backing Mark Ruffalo amid antisemitism charge

Key Points:

• Over 170 Jewish artists and academics, including Todd Haynes and Naomi Klein, signed an open letter supporting Mark Ruffalo after he was accused of antisemitism for criticizing the Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery merger.
• Ruffalo had linked the merger, backed by David Ellison and Oracle's Larry Ellison, to the use of technology supplied to the Israel Defense Forces, arguing that the merger would create a powerful media conglomerate with troubling ties.
• The letter condemns the accusations against Ruffalo as a smear campaign and emphasizes that criticizing corporate actions or Israeli government policies is not antisemitic.
• Signatories highlight the merger’s potential to harm the entertainment industry, consolidate media control, and facilitate a broader project of tech-driven domination linked to support for actions against Palestinians.
• The letter frames connecting the situation in Gaza with media consolidation as a Jewish ethical responsibility, rejecting attempts to silence such critiques by labeling them antisemitic.