John Malkovich has canceled a planned performance of The Music Critic in Israel next year over an unauthorized press release that falsely attributed quotes to the actor.
Malkovich was scheduled to return to Tel Aviv for the satirical theatrical-musical production on April 13 at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium for The Music Critic, written and conceived by Russian-German Jewish violinist and composer Aleksey Igudesman. A press release sent out on Sept. 5 had quoted Malkovich saying he was “thrilled to return to Israel” and looked “forward to meeting the warm Israeli audience once again, to whom I feel a strong closeness and solidarity.”
Malkovich, however, said he was only made aware of the announcement when reading the story in The Hollywood Reporter, first published in The Jerusalem Post, and never authorized the announcement that was shared in a press release to The Jerusalem Post, which is why he has canceled the performance, he now confirms exclusively to THR.
THR, however, reached out to Malkovich’s reps on Saturday before running The Jerusalem Post’s story and did not hear back.
“A PR company hired by the Israeli promoter drafted a quote for the article that was attributed to me, though I never made the statements that were quoted, nor was I consulted before they were printed,” said Malkovich, in part, in a statement to THR on Tuesday. “I did not utter these phrases, and they most certainly are not approved by me, nor do they reflect my feelings. The fact that they were printed as direct quotes from me is unacceptable and untenable. For this reason, I have decided I cannot participate in the Tel Aviv performance.”
