After Paramount called Mark Ruffalo’s statement about Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s alleged role in the Israel-Gaza war “antagonistic,” the actor has responded to the claim. In a strongly worded post on X (formerly Twitter), Mark called the anti-Semitic tag ‘appalling and fundamentally dishonest’.
‘The accusation that I am anti-Semitic is appalling’
He wrote, “The accusation that I am anti-Semitic is appalling and fundamentally dishonest. Criticizing the actions of the Israeli Prime Minister, a military technology contract, or the officials who supplied it is not the same as criticizing the Jewish people. This important and necessary dialogue is dishonestly labeled as anti-Israel.”
Explaining her deep connection to the Jewish people, she wrote, “To be clear, my views come from my own political beliefs and should never be construed as hostility toward the Jewish people, for whom I have deep love and respect. Everything I know about acting, activism, and humanitarianism has been deeply shaped by Jewish friends, colleagues, and loved ones who have been integral and familial at every point in my life.”
Expressing his views against the merger, he wrote, “This merger will have real consequences for real people and the entire country. Investigating Ellison, including Oracle’s business based on data, surveillance technology, and government contracts, and the serious threat to editorial independence and loss of livelihoods of thousands of families, is appropriate and necessary.”
He added, “The $111 billion deal would hand over control of CNN, HBO and Warner Bros. to a family partly backed by foreign money, whose influence on editorial decisions has never been fully explained to the public. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for a serious national security review, and regulators still haven’t given the public real answers. Until they do, the merger should not move forward. Now all these issues are resolved.” But this is the time to think boldly, not to retreat or concede.”
mark ruffalo vs paramount
Mark Ruffalo has been critical of Paramount Skydance’s proposed $110.9 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Oracle is reportedly funding Paramount’s proposed deal.
Recently, Mark shared a 2024 clip of former Oracle chief Safra Catz. The clip reportedly shows him speaking in relation to the Israel–Gaza war as he talked about “extremely scary technologies”. Citing the clip, Ruffalo called the war a “genocide” that was “built on an apartheid system of oppression run by Oracle.”
He also wrote that the “extremely scary techniques” mentioned would “likely merge into one of the largest media conglomerates in the world”. Criticizing the planned Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, he wrote that it was “crushing workers and consolidating the world’s wealth for the sake of its own power and concentrated dominance.”
What did Paramount say against Mark?
Paramount released a statement calling Ruffalo’s comments “antagonistic”. A Paramount representative was quoted by Variety as saying, “We are, as always, troubled when anti-Semitic slurs are used in the alleged service of a business dispute. Terms like ‘genocide’ and ‘apartheid’ applied to corporate transactions are not wrong – they go too far, and they diminish the real suffering those words are meant to describe. It does not deserve this kind of reaction – and frankly, we do not tolerate Any type of prejudice, against anyone.”
Paramount said, “We understand that people feel strongly about this merger and are hopeful that it will be decided on the legal merits, not inherent bias. We are asking for the same goodwill we are extending: less rhetoric, more understanding. Paramount’s future is being written for everyone who wants to create and watch great stories.”