Other than actors Jon Voight, Nick Searcy, James Woods, and Adam Baldwin (who wholeheartedly support Israel), the only voices we’ve heard from Hollywood about Israel’s war of self-defense in Gaza have come from anti-Israel actors like Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Mark Ruffalo, and directors Jonathan Demme and Pedro Almodovar. Finally, Tuesday, a big shot Hollywood executive is speaking out for Israel, and Relativity Media CEO Ryan Kavanaugh is doing so forcefully.
The Hollywood Reporter correctly notes that “Kavanaugh has become the first major Hollywood executive to weigh in on last week’s controversial letter, signed by Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, that denounced what it called Israeli ‘genocide.'”
Speaking to THR, Kavanaugh also ripped Hollywood in general over the industry’s silence, especially after Bardem and Cruz released their anti-Semitic letter:
“I’m extremely disappointed in Hollywood for its silence in the face of this letter,” he said. “They don’t get it. The silence we are witnessing particularly from our industry when Israel faces the most danger of being wiped out that it has faced in our lifetime is akin to the silence when concentration camps started during World War II.” …
Privately, many studio heads have echoed Kavanaugh’s words, saying Cruz and Bardem are “uninformed” and “irresponsible.” “People are furious about this,” said one insider.
Kavanaugh also criticized President Obama, who THR describes as a “sacred cow among Hollywood elites.”:
“What’s a real shame is our leader who is supposed to be the president of the armed forces isn’t leading and stepping in to help our biggest ally (Israel) but instead is effectively suggesting a solution that ensures the eradication of Israel,” he said. “As a Jew, I’m shocked that other Jews in America and our industry aren’t being more proactive.”
I don’t think there’s any question that the simpering and immoral silence coming from Hollywood today is based on the fear that saying anything in support of Israel might create some daylight with President Obama, who, as Cavanagh notes, is not helping Israel but instead “suggesting a solution that ensures the eradication of Israel.”
Except for a brave few like Kavanuagh, in Hollywood your career and social standing come before such trite sentiments like “Never Again.”
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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