Mark Ruffalo Defended by Joaquin Phoenix, Hannah Einbinder and More Than 180 Jewish Figures After Paramount Accuses Him of Using ‘Antisemitic Tropes’ — Read the Open Letter (EXCLUSIVE)

UPDATED TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL SIGNATURES

More than 180 Jewish figures from the entertainment industry and beyond have signed a letter in support of Mark Ruffalo over what it asserts is a “smear campaign” against the actor.

Among those supporting the letter — which claims that Ruffalo has been the subject of “spurious charges of antisemitism” — are Joaquin Phoenix, Jonathan Glazer, Joel Coen, Todd Haynes, Ilana Glazer, Hannah Einbinder, James Schamus, Emma Seligman, Tony Kushner, Jane Schoenbrun and Wallace Shawn.

The letter comes following a heated week in which Ruffalo has been at the center of a growing confrontation regarding the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger. In a social media post on Aug. 21, the Marvel star attacked the deal over its potential consequences for Hollywood, but also accused the Ellison family of being complicit in the “genocide” against Palestinians, which he said “was built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle.” In the post, he highlighted Oracle’s ties to the Israeli military by including a video of its executive vice chair and Paramount board member Safra Catz outlining “really profoundly scary technologies” that the company had used to help it after the Oct. 7 terror attack.