Hannah Einbinder, Emma Seligman and others sign letter challenging antisemitism claims against Mark Ruffalo

Hanna Lee · CBC News

· Posted: Sep 01, 2026 6:47 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

More than 170 Jewish members of the entertainment industry, including Hannah Einbinder, Joel Coen and Canadian filmmaker Emma Seligman, have signed an open letter defending American actor Mark Ruffalo from what they called an "outrageous smear campaign."

"We are Jewish artists, writers, creative professionals, faith leaders and thinkers who have ... a simple message to share with the world," reads the letter, published Tuesday. "Enough!"

The letter says Ruffalo has been facing "the false and dangerous weaponization of charges of antisemitism" for speaking out against Paramount Skydance's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery and drawing connections between the deal and the war in Gaza.

Paramount Skydance is 47 per cent owned by CEO David Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison, who is also co-founder and chief technology officer of Oracle. The Austin-based technology company has been open about its support of Israel, with a top executive previously acknowledging that Oracle shared technology with the Israeli army.

CBC News has reached out to Ruffalo's representatives, as well as Paramount Skydance and Oracle, for comment.

• Thousands in the film industry pledge to not work with 'complicit' Israeli institutions

• Canadian filmmakers, Hollywood celebrities urge TIFF to cut ties with RBC

In a statement to TheWrap and other outlets last month, Paramount said Ruffalo invoked antisemitic tropes when criticizing the deal.

"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 said.

An earlier letter signed by more than 1,000 Jewish members of the entertainment industry similarly condemned the actor's statements for "singling out Jewish executives" with "terms lifted from centuries-old antisemitic conspiracy theories."

Ruffalo has not publicly commented on Tuesday's letter, though he has since reshared a video on Instagram criticizing the proposed merger.

He has previously called the accusations of antisemitism against him "appalling and fundamentally dishonest" in a post on X, saying his criticisms were limited to "the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract or the executives who supply it."

"My views ... should never be interpreted as hostility toward Jewish people, for whom I have deep love and respect."

Ruffalo attends the Oscar nominees luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif., in February 2024 wearing an Artists4Ceasefire pin, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

The letter released Tuesday is the latest in an ongoing clash between Ruffalo and Paramount. The potential acquisition, valued at $110 billion US, has been delayed until June 2027 after 12 U.S. state attorneys general sued to block it over anti-competition concerns.

A merged Paramount Skydance-Warner would create one of the largest studios in Hollywood, controlling massive properties such as Harry Potter, the DC superhero franchise and CNN.

Other signatories to the latest open letter defending Ruffalo include author Naomi Klein, retired rabbi David Mivasair and physician Gabor Maté, who are all Canadian, as well as American actor Ilana Glazer and filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun.

"We stand proudly with Mark Ruffalo," the letter reads, "and with all decent people who are bravely rising and speaking truth to power."

• Paramount agrees to delay closing Warner Bros. buyout for months while judge considers states' challenge

'A classic antitrust case'

On Aug. 21, Ruffalo criticized the merger in a series of Instagram stories, focusing in particular on Oracle for its dealings with the Israeli military. (Ruffalo is an outspoken critic of Israel's military actions in Gaza.)

He reposted a video of Oracle executive vice-chair Safra Catz speaking at the Israeli-American Council National Summit in Washington, D.C., in late 2024.

"There's a few things that we did that I really can't talk about ... to advance the agenda for the Israeli military," said Catz, who was then the company's CEO.

"We have some really profoundly scary technology at Oracle, and we wanted to make sure that it was available for the effort, let's just say that."

A spokesperson for Catz later told the Hollywood Reporter that the technology in question was meant for rescuing hostages taken during the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

In his Aug. 21 post, Ruffalo said the Palestinian enclave is experiencing a genocide, "built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle."

"These [technologies] will most likely be merged into one of the largest media conglomerates in the world and one day used on you," he wrote, without going into further detail.

Israel has adamantly and repeatedly denied that its actions in Gaza constitute genocide, calling such accusations "wholly unfounded" and insisting it is targeting militants, not civilians, and aims to safeguard its security.

Ruffalo in his post also called the potential Skydance-Warner merger a "classic antitrust case," saying it would result in a loss of jobs, higher prices for consumers and reduced competition in the industry.

Paramount, which itself was bought by Skydance last year, has previously said the U.S. states' lawsuit pausing the merger "distorts settled antitrust law," maintaining that it would instead create a stronger competitor against other dominant streaming and tech platforms that have harmed the theatrical exhibition market.

WATCH | Israel rejects Trump's peace plan for Gaza:

Oracle's support of Israel is well documented. Soon after the Oct. 7 attack, the company posted a message supporting the country, declaring its "solidarity with Israel in the fight against terror."

It also announced a donation of $1 million US to Magen David Adom, the country's national emergency service.

"We knew we might lose customers because of our support for Israel, but it didn't matter to us," said Shmulik Hauzer, who leads sales at Oracle Israel, in an interview with Ynet in 2025. "Supporting Israel is in our DNA — even if it costs us clients. That's our agenda."

The war in Gaza began after that Hamas-led attack on Israel, which by Israeli figures killed around 1,200 people and left 251 taken hostage into Gaza. More than 73,000 people in Gaza have been killed in the war since, according to Palestinian officials.