Jane Fonda defends Mark Ruffalo against Paramount's Antisemitism accusation

Jane Fonda is publicly defending Mark Ruffalo after Paramount accused him of invoking antisemitic tropes in his criticism of the studio's proposed $110 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. 

In a statement released Tuesday through the Committee for the First Amendment, the free-speech advocacy group she founded and relaunched last year, Fonda wrote: "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?"

Fonda framed the dispute in the context of the committee's original mission, which was founded decades ago to oppose Hollywood blacklisting. 

"The original Committee for the First Amendment was founded to stand against blacklisting and intimidation of people for their political beliefs. We will not stand by while the government or its allies revive those tactics to bully activists into silence today." 

She was joined in her statement by Oscar-winning producer Bruce Cohen, a member of the group's steering committee, who added: "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. 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."

The dispute began after Ruffalo posted a video on Instagram Friday of Oracle executive vice chair Safra Catz discussing technology the company made available to the Israeli military following the October 7, 2023 attack. 

Ruffalo tied the clip to Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, whose father, Larry Ellison, co-founded Oracle and is reportedly backing his son's Warner Bros. acquisition, writing: "This is the company that Larry Ellison is using to fund his son David's Warner Bros. acquisition. 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." 

Paramount responded by saying it was "troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute." 

Ruffalo rejected the characterisation in a follow-up post over the weekend, writing that the accusation "is appalling and fundamentally dishonest," and adding, "Criticising 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... 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."