Hannah Einbinder is coming to Mark Ruffalo’s defense after the actor faced accusations of antisemitism over his criticism of the Ellison family and the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, calling the idea that he is antisemitic “ludicrous.”
“I’m so grateful that Mark Ruffalo drew a connection between the Ellisons providing military technology to Israel during a genocide and their unprecedented media takeover–and pointed out that this is a dangerous consolidation of power that could ultimately be used against us,” the “Hacks” actress said in a Monday Instagram Story.
“The idea that he only said these things because the Ellisons are Jewish is LUDICROUS,” she continued. “Is it also antisemitic to point out that Safra Catz, the Oracle executive vice chair who boasted about the ‘profoundly scary technology’ provided to the IDF, also sits on Paramount’s board? Or that Larry Ellison has been buying favor with Trump by donating tens of millions to his political efforts for years? Or that he once offered Netanyahu a lucrative Oracle post?”
“This is criticism of RIGHT WING technofeudalist oligarchs who are in the process of carrying out the largest media acquisition in history,” she added. “Period end of story.”
A representative for Paramount did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Einbinder’s defense of the “Avengers” star came after the actor went scorched earth against the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger in an Instagram post, denouncing the deal in part over the Ellison family’s ties to what he called Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.
“This is the company that Larry Ellison is using to fund his son David’s Warner Bros. acquisition,” the actor wrote. “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. 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.”
A Paramount spokesperson responded quickly on Friday in a statement exclusively to TheWrap, calling the actor’s remarks “antisemitic” and “a bridge too far.”
“We are, as always, troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked in purported service of a business dispute. 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,” the statement read. “This doesn’t deserve a response in kind — and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone.”
On Saturday, Ruffalo issued his own response to Paramount’s response. In another long social media post, he decried the conclusion that he was antisemitic as “appalling and fundamentally dishonest.”
“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,” he wrote. “This critical and necessary dialogue is then dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel.”
He added: “This merger has real consequences for real people, and for the entire country. Scrutinizing the Ellisons, including Oracle’s business built on data, surveillance technology and government contracts, and the serious threat to editorial freedom and the loss of a livelihood for thousands of families, is fair and necessary. The $111 billion deal would hand one family control over CNN, HBO and Warner Bros., backed in part by foreign money whose influence on editorial decisions has never been fully explained to the public.”
