Connect with us

RSS

Entertainment Industry Figures Continue to Face Consequences for Anti-Israel Comments as Gaza War Divides Hollywood

Melissa Barrera pictured as The Cast of Scream VI will visit the Empire State Building to promote the film’s upcoming release on March 6, 2023 in New York City. Photo: IMAGO/MediaPunch via Reuters Connect

A growing number of celebrities and other members of the Hollywood entertainment industry are being fired from jobs and talent agencies or reprimanded by their colleagues for attacking Israel as the Jewish state wages a defensive war against Hamas in Gaza after the Palestinian terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israeli communities.

Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon was dropped as a client by United Talent Agency after lambasting Israel at a recent pro-Palestinian rally in New York City, the agency confirmed on Tuesday. At the rally, Sarandon accused Israel of war crimes, encouraged others to have the “courage to speak out” in support of Palestinians, and compared Hamas’ slaughter of civilians last month — which sparked the current conflict —  to the hardships the Palestinians have faced in Gaza under Hamas rule. She has also shared a number of anti-Israel posts on social media since Hamas terrorists infiltrated the Jewish state, killing over 1,200 people and seizing more than 240 hostages.

At the same time, Spyglass Media Group, which produces the Scream film franchise, dropped actress Melissa Barrera as the star of Scream VII after she uploaded a series of posts on Instagram that referred to Israel as a “colonized” land and suggested that Jews control the media. She wrote in part: “Western media only shows the [Israeli] side. Why do they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself.”

“Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” she separately wrote in one post on her Instagram Story. “Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … People have learnt nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”

A Spyglass spokesperson said in a statement to Variety that Barrera was fired because her posts were deemed antisemitic: “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

In October, one of Hollywood’s top agents, Maha Dakhil — whose clients included Tom Cruise, Natalie Portman, and Madonna — resigned from the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) internal board and was relieved of her duties as co-head of the motion pictures department after falsely accusing Israel of genocide. She apologized for the remarks and was reportedly allowed to remain as an agent at CAA.

Not everyone was happy with CAA’s actions. Cruise made it known to the agency that he still supported his agent, despite the incident, by meeting Dakhil at her CAA office on Nov. 15, according to reports. A group of CAA assistants even threatened to leave the agency for the way they treated Dakhil, but eventually dropped their threat, Variety reported. However, some CAA agents complained that Dakhil should have been fired.

Separately, CAA cut ties with a staffer and two clients who made anti-Israel comments on social media.

CAA also dropped Saira Rao and Regina Jackson — co-authors of the 2022 book White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better — because of their social media posts accusing Israel of genocide. Rao said she is “honored to be dropped by CAA for standing up for Palestinians.” However, a CAA spokesperson clarified that the author was not dropped for supporting Palestinians, but for social media posts that were antisemitic. Following the news, Rao tweeted: “F—k America. F—k Israel. The end.”

CAA did not stop there and additionally fired assistant Jouman (Jasmine) Barakat over her posts against Israel. Barakat called all Israelis white supremacists, labeled pro-Israel rallies as “pro-hell rallies,” and ridiculed a post from Israel’s official X/Twitter account that stated, “Even Israelis Deserve to Live” by calling it a “fascist regime,” according to screenshots of the posts circulated online.

Last month, Jewish voice actress Tara Strong was fired from her job in an independent animated series after she voiced solidarity with Israel and condemned Hamas terrorists. Meanwhile, former adult film star Mia Khalifa lost her partnership deal with Playboy magazine and an Ontario-based company called Red Light Holland in October after she referred to Hamas as “freedom fighters,” poked fun at the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, and accused Israel of being a “Zionist apartheid regime.”

La La Land producer Marc Platt reportedly texted heads of the Hollywood talent agency WME asking why Sorry to Bother You writer-director Boots Riley was still a client after the latter asked his followers on X/Twitter to boycott a screening of raw, unedited footage about the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. Riley called the film “murderous propaganda” and said, “when IDF [the Israel Defense Forces] and Israeli officials are at The Hague for war crimes, massacres, and genocidal actions — you won’t want your name or image to have been anywhere near it.” Riley is still a WME client.

The post Entertainment Industry Figures Continue to Face Consequences for Anti-Israel Comments as Gaza War Divides Hollywood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

RSS

Israeli Singer Noa Kirel Leads New Rom-Com Series With Argentine Pop Star Agustin Bernasconi

Agustín Bernasconi and Noa Kirel co-star in the new series “NOA.” Photo: Provided

Israeli singer Noa Kirel is starring alongside Argentine actor and fellow pop singer Agustín Bernasconi in a new music-centered romantic comedy series that will begin filming in March, The Algemeiner has learned.

The 25-episode series “NOA,” which will be filmed entirely in Argentina, is a global co-production from Argentina’s FAM Contenidos and Israel’s entertainment studio Sipur.

In the series, Noa (Kirel) travels to Argentina to meet her boyfriend, after months of having a long-distance relationship, but things don’t turn out the way she thought they would. She then meets Tomy (Bernasconi), “a young man who tries to reconcile with his past and forge a new life away from music, all while Noa begins a journey of discovery in search of her musical identity, while dealing with pressure from her parents and her new reality in Buenos Aires,” according to a provided synopsis.

Kirel is a singer, rapper, songwriter, dancer, and actress. She competed on behalf of Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023 and finished third with her song “Unicorn.” She was also formerly a judge on “Israel’s Got Talent.”

Bernasconi is an Argentine actor, singer, composer, and musician, with over 100 million views on YouTube.

“It will be a great experience to star in the series with Noa,” said Bernasconi. “She is an exceptional artist, and we complement each other very well.”

“NOA” producer and Dori Media Group founder Yair Dori, who originated the series, said: “I am very proud to be part of this great project, which I believe will have a very solid performance worldwide.”

Sipur CEO Emilio Schenker added: “NOA marks the beginning of our co-financing and co-producing major IP franchises globally. I can’t think of a better team or first project to invest in outside of Israel. It fits perfectly with our mandate to bring high-quality fiction, documentary, and unscripted projects to the world through high-level strategic partnerships and the support of powerful investors.”

Sipur’s latest projects include the Hebrew-language scripted drama series “Bad Boy,” from original “Euphoria” creator and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Ron Leshem and Hagar Ben-Asher. Netflix acquired streaming rights for “Bad Boy” in November 2024. Sipur’s recent works also include the medical thriller series “Heart of a Killer,” starring “Tehran” lead actress Niv Sultan, the documentary “We Will Dance Again,” “The Devil’s Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes,” and the documentary series “Munich ’72” about the Palestinian terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.

The showrunners for “NOA” are Alejandro Cacetta and Mili Roque Pitt, and the director is Mauro Scandolari.

The post Israeli Singer Noa Kirel Leads New Rom-Com Series With Argentine Pop Star Agustin Bernasconi first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Freed Hamas Hostage Agam Berger Begs Trump to Help Get Israeli Captives Home: ‘Don’t Stop Until All Are Back’

Released Israeli hostage, Agam Berger, a soldier who was seized from her army base in southern Israel during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, is reunited with her parents following her release, in a handout photo obtained by Reuters on Jan. 30, 2025. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

Former Hamas hostage Agam Berger urged US President Donald Trump to continue pushing for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in a Hebrew-language video message that the president shared on his Truth Social app on Monday night.

A soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, Berger, 20, also thanked Trump for helping to secure her release from Hamas captivity in Gaza last month.

“I want to take this chance to say to you, President Trump: Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you’ve done and continue to do for the hostages,” Berger said in the clip. “Thanks to you, we’re home. But we must remember there are still people who truly depend on you and are waiting for you to save them. They’re waiting for your help and you have the power to do it.”

Berger was kidnapped from the IDF’s Nahal Oz military base on Oct. 7, 2023, along with four other Israeli soldiers. Dozens of IDF soldiers were murdered at the military outpost. Berger was released from Hamas captivity in January a week after four of her fellow IDF soldiers, as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the US-designated terrorist organization.

The ceasefire deal took effect the day before Trump entered office last month and it put a pause to the 15-month war in Gaza. The agreement was mediated by the outgoing Biden and incoming Trump administrations, and the framework of the agreement was agreed upon last year.

“I beg you, don’t stop until all the hostages, both living and deceased, are brought back as quickly as possible,” Berger also told Trump in her video message. She then talked about her time in Hamas captivity, saying: “I went through many hardships there. The days didn’t pass. They stood still. Every night and day felt eternity. That’s how those [hostages] still feel there.”

“We must act fast to bring everyone home. They’re just waiting to be rescued,” she added.

Monday marked 500 days since Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists infiltrated southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, slaughtered 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages back to the Gaza Strip. Seventy-three men, women, and children remain in Hamas captivity. The bodies of four deceased hostages will be returned to Israel on Thursday, two days before the next round of living hostages will be released.

The post Freed Hamas Hostage Agam Berger Begs Trump to Help Get Israeli Captives Home: ‘Don’t Stop Until All Are Back’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Ritchie Torres Calls for Hamas to Be ‘Eradicated’ Following Group’s Announcement of Bibas Children Deaths

Ofri Bibas Levy, whose brother Yarden (34) was taken hostage with his wife Shiri (32) and 2 children Kfir (10 months) and Ariel (4), holds with her friend Tal Ulus pictures of them during an interview with Reuters, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas continues, in Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 13, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) on Tuesday called for Hamas to be “eradicated from the face of the earth” after the Palestinian terrorist group said that its two youngest hostages, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, would be among the four Israeli bodies returned to the Jewish state later this week as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Hamas announced that it would release the bodies of four hostages to Israel on Thursday, including two-year-old Kfir Bibas and his five-year-old brother Ariel. They were nine months and four years old, respectively, at the time of their abduction. The body of their mother, Shiri Bibas, is also expected to be included in Thursday’s hostage releases.

The cold-blooded murder of an infant is as barbaric a crime against humanity as one can commit. Hamas has murdered the Bibas family, including Kfir who was only 9 months old at the time of his abduction,” Torres posted on social media in response to the news.

The Bibas brothers and their mother were among the roughly 250 hostages taken captive by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during their Oct. 7, 2023, rampage across southern Israel, which also included the murder of 1,200 people. Their father, Yarden Bibas, was also abducted but was released by Hamas earlier this month.

“A terrorist organization that murders babies in cold blood cannot be allowed to stand.  Hamas must be removed from power and eradicated from the face of the earth,” Torres wrote.

Torres, a progressive lawmaker from a heavily liberal and Democratic district, has emerged as a stalwart ally of Israel.  Since his arrival in the US Congress, Torres has been highly outspoken against antisemitism, oftentimes criticizing fellow liberals over their unwillingness to combat bigotry against the Jewish community. Torres has criticized efforts to withhold arms from Israel and has repeatedly called for the immediate release of hostages from Gaza. 

The fate of the Bibas family has long loomed over the consciousness of the Jewish state in the 16 months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 slaughters. Both Bibas siblings, the two youngest individuals taken captive by Hamas, have been prominently featured on Israeli promotional materials bringing attention to the remaining hostages in Gaza. 

Hamas declared in November 2023 that the Bibas siblings had been killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike. Hamas did not present evidence for its claim.  

Israel has not confirmed the accuracy of the Hamas announcement regarding the Bibas family. 

In a statement on Tuesday, the Bibas family said it had not received confirmation from Israeli authorities on Hamas’s declaration but was “in turmoil” waiting for news about their loved ones.

The post Ritchie Torres Calls for Hamas to Be ‘Eradicated’ Following Group’s Announcement of Bibas Children Deaths first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News