Mark Ruffalo fires back at Paramount Skydance after it accuses him of using ‘antisemitic tropes’
Actor says highlighting role of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison in media company’s merger with Warner Bros Discovery has been ‘dishonestly framed as being anti-Israel’
TL;DR
- Mark Ruffalo refuted Paramount Skydance's claim that his criticism of their merger with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) involved antisemitic tropes.
- Ruffalo highlighted the connection between Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, and Oracle, run by his father Larry Ellison, whose company supplies technology to the Israeli military.
- Paramount stated that using terms like 'genocide' and 'apartheid' in a corporate transaction is inappropriate and cheapens real suffering.
- Ruffalo clarified that criticizing Israeli government actions or military contracts is not antisemitic and that his views stem from his political convictions, expressing love and respect for Jewish people.
- The merger faces scrutiny over antitrust concerns and the potential for job losses, reduced competition, and the concentration of media power within one family.
- The Simon Wiesenthal Center praised Paramount for opposing prejudice disguised as criticism.