Kenneth Lonergan and Mark Ruffalo attend 'Danny And The Deep Blue Sea' in November 2023 in New York City. Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images Oscar-winning filmmaker and playwright Kenneth Lonergan has come out in support of actor Mark Ruffalo, who has become a focal point in an increasingly heated public fight that involves the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
In a letter sent to The Hollywood Reporter, Lonergan defended Ruffalo from accusations of antisemitism after the Marvel star wrote an Aug. 21 social media post to his 20.6 million Instagram followers linking the billionaire Ellison family with Israel’s military effort in Gaza and called the conflict a “genocide” that “was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle.”
Lonergan, the Manchester by the Sea Oscar winner who worked with Ruffalo on You Can Count on Me and has been friends with the actor for decades, took on some of Ruffalo’s accusers, and writes in his letter shared with THR, “I have no problem with anybody who wants to contest Mark’s – or anyone’s – ideas. But like all such deflections, the tissue-paper accusations levied at him by his targets lead directly back to the soft places in their own positions, which they can’t or won’t defend by actually addressing what he has to say. It’s an old trick, and a sorry one.”
In his post, Ruffalo wrote that Larry Ellison, the Oracle founder worth about $200 billion who’s the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison, was fueling a machine “crushing workers and consolidating the wealth of the world for their own power and concentrated dominance.”
The post highlighted Oracle’s ties to the Israeli military, circulating a clip of former Oracle chief Safra Catz talking up Oracle’s tech at the Israeli-American Council National Summit in 2024 as it related to Israel’s war effort in Gaza. In the brief clip, Catz described “profoundly scary technologies” the company had built that could be deployed as part of the war effort.
That same day, Paramount muscularly fired back, issuing a lengthy statement from a spokesperson saying that Ruffalo was invoking antisemitic tropes and that his comments were “a bridge too far.”
Since then, the debate has drawn in multiple Hollywood-affiliated groups. The Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Creative Community for Peace condemned Ruffalo’s remarks. An industry group calling itself The Brigade, which includes producers Haim Saban, Lawrence Bender and Ram Bergman, also issued a statement, saying, “It is unacceptable to introduce Jews, antizionism, or antisemitism into conversations about business transactions, simply because those involved are Jewish.”
On the other side of the issue, Emmy-winning Hacks actress Hannah Einbinder came out in defense of the Ruffalo, describing the antisemitism claims against the actor as “ludicrous,” while Jane Fonda issued an Instagram post calling the attacks on Ruffalo “a smear to delegitimize criticism of the merger.”
Ruffalo has long been one of Hollywood’s leading voices on environmental, political, and anti-war causes, including the ongoing Gaza war. He has also come out in opposition to the Paramount-Warners deal, testifying against the merger to a Senate hearing, signing an open letter along with hundreds of actors opposing the deal and consistently hammering the point on social media.
Lonergan’s full letter shared with THR is below, as is Mark Ruffalo’s original Instagram reel on Aug. 21. Paramount’s full statement, which Lonergan is also responding to, is below as well:
Kenneth Lonergan’s letter on Mark Ruffalo’s behalf sent to The Hollywood Reporter. Courtesy of Kenneth Lonergan Mark Ruffalo’s Aug. 21 Instagram reel caption referencing Oracle’s ties to the Israeli military. Mark Ruffalo/Instagram Paramount’s full statement on Aug. 21:
“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. This doesn’t deserve a response in kind — and to be clear, we don’t tolerate prejudice of any kind, against anyone. This brings us to a moment to lower the temperature, not raise it. We’d rather build than further engage in such rhetoric. This simply exposes the true motivation of some who have advocated opposition to this transaction. On the other hand, our commitment to great content is matched by our commitment to acceptance – to every story, every storyteller, and no blacklists, no exceptions, for anyone. We understand people feel strongly about this merger and are hopeful and expect that it will be judged based on the legal merits, not underlying bias. We’re asking for the same good faith we’re extending: less rhetoric, more understanding. Paramount’s future is being written for everyone who wants to make and watch great stories.”
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