John Cusack is voicing support for fellow actor Mark Ruffalo as he defends himself against accusations of antisemitism in his criticism of the $111 Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery merger and tech giant Oracle.
“Solidarity — well said,” Mr. Cusack, 60, posted Saturday on X in response to an Instagram post by Mr. Ruffalo in which he said that criticizing Israel’s government is not the same as denigrating the Jewish people.
Paramount accused Mr. Ruffalo of antisemitism in his criticism of Oracle executive Safra Catz’s comments about supplying Israel’s military with technology after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack and of David Ellison, the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison who is leading the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.
Mr. Ruffalo has supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, a Palestinian-led effort against Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, which began in 1967.
Calling Oracle’s products “really profoundly scary technologies,” Mr. Ruffalo chided Ms. Catz’s comments, posting: “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.”
Paramount said it was “troubled when antisemitic tropes are invoked” in what it called a business dispute, adding that terms such as “genocide” and “apartheid” “cheapen the very real suffering those words are meant to describe.”
Mr. Ruffalo, 58, told Fox News Digital the antisemitism accusation was “appalling and fundamentally dishonest.” He said that criticizing Israeli government actions, military contracts or executives is not the same as criticizing the Jewish people.
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