It was a big weekend for the entertainment industry, with the Emmys and the Venice Film Festival officially ending the summer culture doldrums. At the former, Betty Gilpin won for her guest spot in Widow’s Bay (extremely well deserved, IMO), and Bad Bunny won for his Super Bowl Halftime Show (ditto). But—perhaps unsurprisingly—the more interesting news came out of Venice, where a number of interesting films premiered, including Primetime (featuring Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen) and a documentary about Oasis’ reunion tour last year. (Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Nathan Fielder dropped a surprise documentary about Elizabeth Holmes at the Telluride Film Festival.)
In line with other global media patterns, the specter of Israel’s ongoing war and displacement in Palestine was less prominent in coverage of the festival compared to last year, when the heartbreaking movie The Voice of Hind Rajab premiered in Venice and won the Grand Jury Prize. (At least two Palestinian movies are playing this year, Conversation with the Sea and Citizen Osama, though the latter is not in competition.) But one outspoken activist said the suppression of pro-Palestinian voices in Hollywood remains. While promoting her latest movie, an Italian production called The Echo Chamber, Susan Sarandon said on Sunday, “I’ve still had movies taken away recently because there are agencies that are telling people not to hire me,” according to the Guardian.
When it comes to hiring actors who are critical of Israel, she said that “if it is a major studio,” she and “other people [have] been told that that is impossible.” She added that such black-listing “hasn’t been a problem” with other filmmakers: “Certainly internationally, I feel welcome.”
Though she had been a strong supporter of Palestinian rights before October 7, 2023, Sarandon was dropped by her talent agency UTA in mid-November 2023 for a (very poorly worded) comparison of the struggles facing Jewish Americans and Muslim Americans.
Given the smear campaigns that other famous supporters of Palestine continue to face, Sarandon’s statement was not all that surprising. In an August statement criticizing the proposed Paramount Skydance/Warner Bros. merger, Mark Ruffalo noted Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison’s connections to the Israeli army: Namely, that his dad, Larry Ellison, is the CEO of Oracle, which has provided self-described “really profoundly scary technology” to the Israeli army post-Oct. 7. Paramount Skydance fired back with the tired argument that criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic, which prompted over 170 Jewish artists and intellectuals—including Hannah Einbinder and Tony Kushner—to sign a public letter in defense of Ruffalo, titled “Enough!” While one could argue that the public letter is also a bit of a… tired medium, it is one of the few platforms that now exists for this type of debate, which is clearly not being encouraged behind closed doors in the entertainment industry. (Einbinder, who shouted “Go birds, fuck ICE, and free Palestine” while accepting her Emmy last year, has also been subject to some Hollywood hate: “It’s been made clear to me that there are people in the industry who don’t like me,” she told The Cut earlier this year while discussing her outspokenness.) Bottom line being, I’m also tired.
Over on a totally different platform—one that is also terrible for discussions of antisemitism (in all imaginable ways)—fellow curly redhead Natasha Lyonne took to X to defend (or maybe just agree with) Sarandon: “I believe it!” Lyonne has been slightly more kooky than usual lately, but her post continued with her regular level of kookiness. “As a bonafide B’nai Yisroel who likes her cholent pretty mushy, dense and cozy on a lazy shabbos, I remain as perplexed as the rest as to what transpires next or how to square any of the layers of grief & beauty spilling out in all directions on this one. Love to be believe in hope. #FreePalestine. It can’t still be that radical to say that, can it?” She then finally noted that “this was the draft” she’d been posting about earlier when she said simply, “Free Palestine.” My dear Natasha, not everything needs to be explained to that level of detail. But go off?
- “Celine Dion spotted dancing for fans in Paris.” [X]
- ICYMI: It’s Harry Styles season in New York. [Vulture]
- This Jim Thornton (aka the Wheel of Fortune guy) story is really bizarre. [Page Six]
- Ciara is expecting her fifth child (fourth with Russell Wilson), and her cute little laundry line gambit really got me. [Instagram]
- If you’re gonna “pay tribute” to Kate Hudson’s famous How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days dress, have the courage to go with a dangerously low back! [People]
