Two actresses, one an Oscar-winning veteran and the other a relative newcomer, have been banned from Hollywood companies after their comments about the Israel-Hamas war drew criticism.
Susan Sarandon, a five-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner (as best actress in 1995’s “Dead Man Walking”), was fired by United Talent Agency after she made comments at a pro-Palestinian rally last week. An agency spokesman, Richard Siklos, confirmed Tuesday that the agency no longer represents Sarandon, but declined to elaborate.
Attempts to reach Sarandon for comment were not immediately successful.
Separately, Spyglass Media Group has removed Melissa Barrera from the cast of the horror series “Scream” after she posted inflammatory comments on Instagram about Israel’s retaliation for the Hamas attacks.
“We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism or incitement to hatred in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that blatantly crosses the line into hate speech,” Spyglass said in a statement on Tuesday.
Representatives for Barrera did not respond to requests for comment.
United Talent dropped Sarandon after she made remarks at a rally in New York City last week. “There are many people who are afraid, afraid of being Jewish at this time and getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country that is so often subject to violence,” she said at the rally. According to a video published by the New York Post, she called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
These statements were criticized on social media; A former speechwriter for the Israeli delegation to the United Nations said on the X platform, formerly Twitter, that she did it interpreted Sarandon’s remark suggested that Jews “have it before them – that we do not deserve to live free from harassment and assault.” The Post called her comments an “anti-Jewish slur” in a headline.
Sarandon said at the rally that criticism of Israel should not be viewed as anti-Semitic. “Something terrible happened when anti-Semitism was confused with anti-Israel sentiment,” Sarandon said. “I am against anti-Semitism. I am against Islamophobia.”
According to police, there has been a sharp increase in anti-Semitic crimes in New York City since the October 7 Hamas attacks. According to the Israeli government, Hamas militants entered Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 people hostage. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 11,000 Palestinians, including more than 4,600 children, have been killed since Israel’s counteroffensive began.
Sarandon counts “Bull Durham” and “Thelma & Louise” among her credits. This year she appeared in the latest DC Comics film, Blue Beetle, which was a disappointment at the box office. She has also long been known for her political activism.
Hollywood has been rocked by the Israel-Hamas war in recent weeks. Some Jewish writers were upset that their union did not quickly issue a statement condemning Hamas. A prominent Creative Artists Agency agent, Maha Dakhil, posted messages on social media accusing Israel of “genocide” and then removed them. She apologized and resigned from an internal leadership position at the company. One of her celebrity clients, screenwriter and playwright Aaron Sorkin, fired her as his agent, saying in a statement: “Maha is not anti-Semitic, she is simply wrong.”